Colorblind
by CurbItKirby
Summary: Vaguely, she was aware that Sean was staring at her. That was fine. People stared at her all the time. A side effect of having a physical mutation. What put her on edge was the lack of disgust or fear. Sean/OFC Set during First Class.
1. Fern and Josie

Josephine had always wanted a daughter, but she never expected to have one. Her husband had died during the Second World War and she'd never remarried. Quite simply, she couldn't imagine her life with another man. Victor had been her one true love. At fifty four she knew she would never have a child of her own, so she reluctantly began the adoption process. Of course, a woman her age was deemed unfit to raise any of the 'normal' children.

So they decided to pawn the freak off to the old hag from the mountains.

Josephine was thrilled with the girl. The child, although sickly and weak, was the embodiment of everything she had ever wanted in a daughter; curious and rambunctious, or at least her file indicated such. So what if the girl had a… skin condition. That could be easily overlooked.

"What's her name?" The woman asked as she crouched down on one knee to get a closer look of the runt. They were only five feet apart and the child seemed to be doing everything in her power to keep that distance between them.

The girl's large, doe-like eyes were blue, with no white to be seen in the bright pools. They were a touch unsettling, more because of the way they were watching Josephine than their inhumane color. Glaring at the Southern woman, she didn't move from her corner. Instead, kept her back to the wall and her bony knees pressed tightly to her chest. Her lanky arms kept them there, her posture tense and completely still as she watched the women. Her grey skin seemed to flicker, dancing between an ash and dark grey. It was the latter that stuck to her scaly skin, a stark contrast to the pale pink wall behind her

The social worker flipped open the case file. After searching the page a moment, she blushed. "It's Fern." The social worker, who was perhaps only ten years younger than Josephine herself, cleared her throat and moved to stand next to her. She never took her eyes off the girl as she spoke to the older woman, "You realize this is a delicate case, don't you Mrs. Ailey?"

"I ain't blind, Kelly, just old." Josephine held her hand out to the child again, this time motioning for the girl to come closer. "Come 'ere."

The child didn't move. Her eyes fell to the woman's hand, to her gnarled knuckles and calloused palm and she flinched. Instead of speaking, Fern turned to press her cheek against the wall.

Mrs. Kelly sighed and rubbed her forehead with perfectly manicured fingers. "I knew this was a bad idea, she really has been nothing but trouble since she was-"

"Hey, now give the girl a chance." Josephine stood, wiped her sweating palms on her blue jeans, and slowly moved closer to the child.

With nowhere left to go, Fern's massive blue eyes seemed to narrow at the woman.

"Come on, Fern, come 'ere."

She shook her head defiantly. A pout crossed her features, causing the dark zigzag-like markings on her scaly skin to ripple.

Josephine would have none of it. "_Now_, Fern. You wanna get outta here, don'cha?"

A spark of interest lit up the girl's features. Fern's glare lost its edge and she tilted her head. Her skin mellowed itself and returned to a lighter shade of grey than it had been before the woman came over. It was then Josephine realized the girl's head was not shaved, as she originally thought, but rather the short black strands were pulled back in a tight ponytail. The elderly woman offered her hand. The child stared at it and raised her own in reply. She jerked back violently when Kelly's voice cut in.

Patronizing and firm, the social worker sighed as she stepped closer to the pair. "Now, Fern-"

"Hush up, Kelly, I got this," Mrs. Ailey snapped over her shoulder, but her own blue eyes never left the mutant in front of her. She kept her features firm, but not angry. Her gaze never left the girl in front of her. "I ain't gonna hurt ya, baby. Come on, now. It's time to go home."

"Actually you can't take her until-"

"Please," Josephine scoffed at the other woman as the child took her hand. It was small in her own, and quivering just a tad. They stood. The Southerner towered over the child, with her lithe five foot nine inch form, and she gently pulled the child to her side. There was no resistance, although Fern did tense terribly as she was pressed to Josephine's leg. The eccentric woman waved her hand, indicating to the room around them. "You honestly expect me to leave her here?"

Mrs. Kelly's jaw dropped and her cheeks colored. "Excuse me?" She asked indignantly. "We do our best to keep these children-"

"In a cage? Look at this place!" Josephine's voice rose a tad and her gaze sharpened as Fern's grip tightened on her hand. "There're bars on the windows!"

"She sneaks out at night!" Kelly snapped. Her pale features darkened and she shook her head. Her manicured fingers tightened on Fern's file, crumpling the thin papers as she clenched her jaw. Her words stilted and sharp, she forced a smile at the blonde, "Fine. If we start the paperwork now you can be gone before nightfall."

Mrs. Ailey kept a firm hold of Fern's hand as she, head high and back straight, guided her out of the room. Mrs. Kelly walked ahead of them. Josephine squeezed the shaking, frail hand with gentle but calloused fingers and smiled down at her new ward.

"I'm Josephine Ailey. You can call me Josie, if you like. Or Mrs. Ailey." Her sun kissed cheeks flushed softly. "Or maybe ma, if you wanted."

Fern tilted her head. Ma? A fine membrane flicked over her eyes from under her eyelids and not for the first time, she was thankful she didn't have tear ducts. Instead, she shrugged and dropped her gaze to the floor. "Hm."

"How old are you? Five? Six?"

"Nine," The little one corrected passively. She was used to this. Fern knew she was scrawny; she'd been told hundreds of times, for as long as she could remember. She looked up at the woman suspiciously. "How old are you?"

Josephine winked at her. "Older than nine." A playful smile lit up her blue eyes and she ushered the little girl in ahead of her. "After you, kiddo."

_-Six Months Later-_

The first thing Josephine learned about raising a mutant child, or at least, this particular mutant child, was that Fern, when nervous, climbed the walls.

"Fern, you get down from there this instant, young lady!"

The girl shook her head and bared her teeth, skittering across the ceiling, away from her foster mother. "No."

"_Yes_." Josie held up the girl's coat. "Ya promised ya'd go without a fight!"

Fern frowned, her black hair swaying in midair as she shook her head violently. "I changed my mind!"

"Fern! Fern, you get down from there!" Josephine put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. "I'll give ya to the count'a three before I get the broom."

"Aw, Ma-"

"One."

"I hate the broom!"

"Two."

"Fine! But if he tries to suck my blood we're leavin'!" Fern dropped gracefully to the ground. Her long arms crossed as she glared at her caregiver. "An' don't tell me he won't."

Josephine draped the girl's coat over her thin shoulders. "_Draw_ your blood sweetheart, not suck it. He's not a vampire."

"Says you."

"What was that?"

"Nothin'." With a defeated sigh, Fern's skin began to change; the shade of it twisting from a dark to light grey in an intricate fashion. When she noticed, she slid the jacket on and zipped it until it was high on her throat, right up to her chin. She sniffed with irritation, glancing at the blonde woman curiously. Josephine seemed completely at ease, something that only furthered the child's anxiety. Sharp teeth bit the inside of her cheeks as she stuck her hands in her pockets.

When Josephine noticed the girl's tense posture, she asked her what was wrong.

Blue orbs went to blue eyes and the child shifted nervously. "They're… they're not gonna like…"

"Like what, darlin'?" Her new mother asked with a raised brow as she brushed some of the mutant's black hair from her anxious features.

"Like experiment on me, are they?"

Josephine dropped to one knee in front of the girl. Hands going to the child's narrow shoulders, she pursed her lips a moment before asking, "How long have we known each other?"

"Six months." Fern grumbled.

"And have I given you any reason to think I was gonna let 'em experiment on ya?"

The girl played with her hands. Her gaze focused on her black fingernails and their sharp points, she admitted, "No."

Josie tucked a piece of the girl's loose hair behind her ear. "Then trust me."

The ride was long, and most of it was filled with the static of radio as tiny hands continually switched over the channels. Knowing it was a nervous habit, Mrs. Ailey didn't say anything of it.

"Ma?"

"Yeah?"

"What is the specialist gonna do?"

"Well, he's gonna check you over, make sure you're healthy."

Fern's lips tightened. She didn't like the sound of that. With a swallow, she asked, "Is that all?"

"He's gonna tell us 'bout your mutation."

The child froze. For a few seconds, she was completely still, but her composure wasn't to last. The child began thrashing in her seat. Her voice became screeching and frightened as she frantically pulled at her seatbelt, "I knew it! Yer gonna let 'em poke and prod me 'til he gets what he wants and then I'm gonna-" With a growl, the seat belt was torn from its socket. "_No!_"

The woman quickly pulled to the side of the road and grabbed the seat belt.

The girl froze at the Josie's hands over her own before she began to thrash even harder.

"_No!"_ she repeated, kicking and scratching at the woman. "_No, no, no, no_!"

"Fern! Fern, stop!" Josephine grabbed the child's arms and forced them down.

"No!"

"Fern, I'm not gonna let 'em hurt you!"

Her arms continued to flail, weak hands slapping and pushing at the woman as Fern screamed, _"No! That's what they always say! No, no, no!"_ Fern bared her teeth threateningly, and for a moment, the woman was frightened. Those teeth were sharp… dangerous. "_You can't make me!"_

"Fern Ailey, you stop this, this instant, young lady." Josie's hands clamped down on her shoulders and she gave the girl a hard, much needed shake. "Now you know I ain't gonna let anything happen to ya, but you need to calm down and show me some respect."

"No." Fern had calmed. But her features were still hurt and scared. Her hands twisted the seat belt, tugging at it as she looked out the window "You can't make me go."

The woman pushed her daughter's black hair away from her face. Its colors were changing again. Shifting from light to dark to ash grey and back again. It was almost hypnotic. Josie swallowed and stroked the little girl's scaled cheek. "I can and I will. It's for yer own good, child. If I think they're gonna hurt ya, I'll take ya outta there. Now sit tight. The faster we get there the faster this'll be done with."

Fern's bottom lip quivered, but she surrendered, falling back into her seat without a word.

The specialist, as it turned out, was an elderly gentleman named Joshua Casten. He was a short man, but seemed genuinely kind and very curious. A dermatologist, his expertise lied in skin, and Fern's was turning out to be rather remarkable. He inspected it carefully, from the odd ridges on her fingertips and toes to the various lines and raised skin that flitted across her jaw and throat, rising above her naturally scaled skin. Similarly, the outsides of her arms held several thick, calloused scales that didn't fit in with the rest of her skin. Casten had hummed curiously over them, but didn't dare draw blood from them. The child was far too on edge for that. He also swabbed the inside of her cheek with a cotton swab –much to the child's distaste- and checked her reflexes.

"She's a little on the small side," He told Josie, who nodded and listened carefully, her fingers fiddling with the thin gold chain around her neck as he went on, "but otherwise she seems perfectly healthy."

Frowning, Fern pulled her jacket back on. She looked between the two of them with annoyance. "That's it? We can go now?"

"Well, Miss Ailey…" Casten got down on his knee and smiled at her. Her expression remained stony. He was unsurprised. Josie had filled him in on her background and knew what to expect from her. A distrust of strangers was not uncommon among children like Fern. Meaning adopted children, not children with her particular ailment; in truth he had never seen anything quite like her before. "I'd like to check back in with you in a few months. Judging by the texture and tone of your pores, I'm thinking you just might be poisonous."

"Poisonous?" Josie repeated with a hint of worry.

At her mother's tone, Fern glanced over at the woman before looking back at Casten. With a hint of skepticism, she asked, "What, like poison oak?"

Casten shook his head with a good natured chuckle. "Not exactly. It's just a theory, nothing to worry about as you are quite young." He made eye contact with Josephine and the woman got the feeling it was something they should be very much concerned about, regardless of his nonchalant manner. "But it couldn't hurt to keep an eye on it."

So Josephine nodded and forced a smile to her lips for the sake of the child. "Of course. When would you like to see her again?"

"I think we should make this a biannual appointment," He told her, tucking his penlight into his lab coat. "In the meantime, some sunlight would do her some good. Any outdoor activity would, in fact." He raised his hand to the girl's face and gave her cheek a playful pinch. "Get some color on those cheeks!"

Fern bit him.

He gave out a shocked cry and jerked away. The rage in her stare caught him off guard and he looked down at his wounded finger. Blood flowed steadily from the wound and he grabbed some paper towels from this desk.

"Fern." Josephine said sternly.

"He pinched me." The child whined with a huff.

Her caregiver crossed her arms. "_Fern_."

The girl sighed. Rolling her eyes, she recited, "Sorry, I bit you Dr. Casten."

He chuckled nervously. "Not a problem, Miss Ailey." Casten swallowed and nodded to the mother as she ushered her child out of the room. "Until January."

**A/N: Depending on how this is received, I'll continue posting. I just want to give my lovely beta, **_**Linda Ku**_**, a shout out! She's been an amazing help. ^.^**


	2. First Contact

Ten years past.

The fragile girl Josie had adopted, had grown into a young woman of tall stature and strong will. Cautious in nature, the younger Ailey rarely trailed too far from their secluded home. Most of the people she met were friendly, or at the very least tolerant, but the few that had been violent and hysterical had done a good job of making the Aileys a somewhat reclusive pair.

The elderly woman stepped out of the farm house. The morning light was bright, a sharp contrast to the fog over the lake where her daughter swam.

"_Fern, sweetie!"_ Josie called as she waved to her, but went unnoticed. Under her breath, she muttered, "Shoot."

The elderly woman carefully made her way down the hillside toward the lake. The air was brisk and the wind forced her greying blonde curls to whip around her face. She brushed them from her cheeks with a huff before she pulled her knitted cardigan closer to her lanky frame. A large English Mastiff raced ahead of her, barking merrily. On sneakered feet, she followed the animal out to the dock.

"_Fern!"_ She shouted, rocking onto her tiptoes in an attempt to see further out. Between the fog and dark water, Josie couldn't see much.

A head, barely visible, popped up a few yards away and looked her way as the dog began barking frantically.

"Ma?" Fern blinked, the membrane under her eyelids wiping lake water from them. She approached the dock quickly, her toned arms threading the water with ease. She squinted up at her mother as she brushed her bangs from her eyes. Her lean body rocked gently with the current, bobbing her up and down as she asked, "What's up?"

"You have a phone call." Josephine watched her daughter lift herself out of the deep, frigid lake.

Jet black hair was matted around her face, the color of the scaled skin under it shifting and changing intrinsically with the sudden change in temperature. The younger Ailey rung out the short dark strands and huffed as Bruno greeted her with a sniff at her belly.

Josephine handed the younger woman a towel. "They said it's to do with the government."

"What?" Fern dried her arms off with a crease in her brow.

The dog jumped on her shoulders. She was almost knocked off balance by his sheer size, but quickly shifted her center of gravity to accommodate the extra weight. Bruno didn't notice, too busy licking at her scaled cheeks and sniffing her affectionately to notice the way she angled her hips and arched her back to brace him. After a moment the Mastiff dropped down and turned to head back toward the house. The women did the same.

"What'd they want me for?"

Mrs. Ailey shrugged. She carefully pulled the towel tighter over Fern's shoulders. "I don't know. They said they knew Casten."

"Why doesn't it surprise me he broke patient confidentiality?" Fern asked with a hint of bitterness. While her like of the man had grown since she was a child, there was still a good amount of distrust the woman had for anyone deemed _doctor_. Anyone in a white coat and boasting of a doctorate was deemed suspicious in her eyes and were to be regarded the same way one would a strange animal- with cautious respect and plenty of distance.

The house on the top of the hill wasn't a large one, but plenty big enough for the two women and their freakishly large dog. With two stories and four bedrooms, Josie and her late husband had bought it in the mid-thirties hoping to fill it with children, but sadly never got the chance. Josie didn't mind though; between Fern and the Mastiff, it was filled with all the raucous the elderly lady could handle. They slipped inside and the young woman made a beeline for the kitchen.

Fern picked up the phone where it lay on the kitchen counter. With a hint of suspicion in her voice, she answered with a curt, "Hello?"

"Hello," A composed voice greeted her warmly. "Is this Miss Fern Ailey?"

"Speaking," She confirmed to the masculine English accent on the other end of the line. An amused smile twitched at her lips. She had never heard an accent that wasn't southern before. At least, not in person, if over the phone could be counted as such. Jumping up on the counter with ease, she listened as she rocked on her toes; her abrasive skin giving her enough traction to keep her in place on just about any surface, including their marble counter tops.

Much to her mother's displeasure.

"Hello. My name is Charles Xavier, I'm running a program for the, uh, _gifted,_ shall we say, in Virginia and I was wondering if you would be interested in attending?"

She tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder with a hum. The young woman toweled off her dark grey skin. It continued to swirl under the kitchen's bright lights. The Mastiff, Bruno, jumped up on her shoulders again, but she simply grunted and adjusted her center of gravity with a well-practiced ease. "Gifted?"

"That's right." The cool voice replied with a hint of pride.

"You realize I was home schooled and my records aren't on file." She frowned and looked dubiously at her mother. She dropped the towel in her lap as her dog eyed the phone with interest. Bruno sniffed at the receiver, but didn't make a sound. Fern cocked a near invisible brow at Josephine and continued to speak into the receiver with a sneer tugging at her lips, "I thought you were a friend of Dr. Casten's."

The man cleared his throat. Clearly he hadn't expected such hostility. "I am."

"And he's who told you about me? About what exactly qualifies me as _gifted_?"

Josephine rolled her eyes at her daughter's accusing tone. Honestly. The girl wore distrust like a second skin. "Fern. Play nice." Her strong fingers wrapped around the dog's collar and pulled his massive form from her daughter's lithe one. "Those limeys are judgmental fucks."

"We are not," Xavier assured her, a hint of amused indignity in his voice. The young woman appreciated that. Brushing off the Southerner's casual racism, he carried on, "Perhaps it's best we have this conversation in person. To ease any… concerns, your mother has."

"In person?" Fern echoed. With a smirk, she answered, "Sure. Bring a camera."

The mutant dropped the phone back on the receiver and looked up to find her mother glaring at her. With an overly innocent bat of her eyes, she asked, "What?"

"That was rude."

The young woman scoffed and began to bounce anxiously in place on the balls of her feet. Her hands crossed over her chest to hold her shoulders as she shrugged. "So? You do the same thing whenever the paperboy calls."

"Yeah but the paperboy isn't offering me a job," Josie countered. "Now, dry off, you're soaking my counter."

"No need. I'm heading back out." With a smile that flashed her sharp canines and bicuspids, she hopped down and made her way to the back door, "If he calls back, tell him I'm off committing a Pagan sacrifice or giving fellatio to the homeless. You know…" She kicked the door open behind her and the dog rushed out of it. She motioned with her hands, a crooked grin flashing her sharp canines and bicuspids as the young woman teased, "Talk me up a bit."

"F-" Josephine sighed and rolled her neck as the girl disappeared from the doorway. The phone rang and she muttered, "_Fantastic_," before answering it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mrs. Ailey? It's Joey-"

The woman slammed the phone down on the receiver. She didn't have time for this shit.

In Virginia, Charles blinked. The phone still tight to his ear, he frowned as the dial tone greeted him.

"What?" His friend, Erik Lensherr, asked curiously from the window a few feet away. He had been peering on to the grounds for most of Charles' conversation, but now the shorter man had his complete attention. "Did she reject us?"

"I… don't know."

The German man smirked. Amusement lining his roguish features, he asked, "What do you mean you don't know?"

"Well…" Charles leaned back in his office chair. The receiver didn't leave his hand as he shook his head, clearly confused and perhaps a bit frazzled. "I offered her a place at the CIA, and she seemed curious, so I asked if she'd like to arrange a meeting in person. Then she laughed at me and hung up."

"She hung up on you?" Erik chuckled. He crossed his arms and leaned against the windowsill. "She's a teenager, what did you expect?"

The man continued to gape at the phone in shock. "I don't know; some casual respect?"

A knock on the door halted their conversation.

"How did it go?" Raven asked curiously as she poked her head inside the office.

"Not well, I'm afraid." Erik grinned, flashing every one of the teeth. "It seems Charles doesn't quite know how to handle today's youth."

"She just said to bring a camera and hung up on me." Xavier repeated with astonishment.

The woman chuckled. A hand rose to cover her smile, as she told him sympathetically, "Oh, Charles, I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "I don't understand it. Surely she realized we would have to meet in person?"

Erik shrugged. "Maybe she thinks we'll change our minds once we see her."

"But we already know of her physical mutation!"

"Did you mention that?" Raven asked, sliding on to one of the plush couches.

"Well, _no_," Xavier admitted. "Not in so many words. I couldn't exactly tell her I'd touched her mind with Cerebro, now could I?"

The other man squinted at him in suspicion. "And you didn't mention what being _gifted_ exactly entails, did you?"

Charles' shoulders slumped with defeat. "No. I didn't."

"Then perhaps it is best we leave now. Catch her off guard and show that we don't mean any harm." Erik offered. His lean form moved quickly across the office to a coat rack. He took both Charles' jacket and his own from it. Tossing it to the man, he smirked. "Come on." His eyes slid over to the blonde. "Raven, are you coming?"

"Really?" She asked him with an excited smile.

The blond man nodded. "Of course. Show her that's she's not the only one with a physical mutation."

Shrugging his jacket on, Xavier agreed, "Capital idea."

The young woman beamed at him and ushered the men out the door.


	3. In Disguise

-_**Just outside Boone Lake, Tennessee**_-

"This is ridiculous." Fern squirmed, restless and a bit embarrassed as she insisted, "It's fine."

Josephine rolled her eyes at her daughter's dismissive words. Her long, weathered fingers continued to sift through the kitchen's junk drawer. She was in search of Band-Aids. For not the first time, her daughter had fallen off the pier in the middle of the night. While the girl's scaled skin was tough, it was really no match for a pier full of jagged rocks. Thus the back of her right leg was covered in a series of scratches. None of them were terribly deep, thankfully, but her mother knew they stung none the less.

"That's what ya get for trying to sneak off." Josie told her with a hint of condescension.

Fern looked indignant. She was sitting on the counter again. Her weight rested on the balls of her feet while her toes clung to the marble edge. One of her elbow rested on her knee and she had her cheek resting against the fist from the same arm. Pouting, she looked away from the older woman. "I was _not_ sneaking off."

Watching as the colors rippled on the young woman's face, her mother was quick to quip, "A guilty dog barks the loudest, sugar."

"I was just gonna go for a swim. Clear my head." Fern huffed with a hint of frustration as she bounced on her toes. "I mean, it's not like I'll have the chance to do it again… seeing how you're shipping me off to some _government warehouse!_"

"It is _not_ a government warehouse… at least I don't think it is," Josie added as an afterthought. The woman shrugged passively. She had grown used to her daughter's paranoia with the outside world and although she didn't like it, she certainly understood it. "Don't get ahead of yourself just yet, kid, you ain't been accepted yet."

Inhuman blue eyes seemed to narrow on her as Josie turned around with a hand full of bandages. Features grim, Fern warned her, "And I won't be."

Josephine cocked a brow. "And why not?"

"Look at me, ma. You think they want to hire… someone like me?" The young mutant scoffed and shook her head. She bit her lip and hopped off the counter. Her injured leg ached, but Fern ignored the throb of heat up her calf. Rubbing the back of her neck, she continued in a low voice, "For any kind of normal job anyway."

"What?" The elderly woman raked her gaze up and down the girl's willowy frame. "What's wrong with ya?"

Fern shrugged with a weak smirk on her lips. Her features faded to reflect her mood, turning a gloomy shade of stone grey. With a hint of bitter amusement, she muttered, "Everything."

"Now, Fern Ailey, I won't have any of that nonsense." Josephine grabbed her daughter's chin and tried to force her to look up at her. The girl didn't budge. With a sigh, the woman brushed a few of the wet strands of black hair from Fern's grey skin. As her hands fell to the mutant's bare shoulders, her mother continued firmly, "You have just as much a right to get any job you want."

Fern kept her face stubbornly down. The membrane over her eyes flickered as she let out a doubtful hum.

"If they know Casten, they know about your condition," The blonde reminded her with a smug smile.

Blinking, Fern glanced up at that thought. She hadn't considered that. Only that they knew she was a freak- not that, perhaps, they wouldn't mind. A small smirk appeared in the corner of her scale free lips, but she said nothing. Her mother considered it a victory.

With calloused fingers and a gentle touch, Josie tucked a strand of her daughter's wet hair behind her ear. Her thumb lingered on her cheek a moment, stroking the scaled skin with a tenderness that Fern was still adjusting to after ten years. "Why don't you go out for a swim? You might be healed up by the time it's over."

The girl nodded, kissed her mother on the cheek and ventured out the back door. Bruno followed after, keeping quiet in the dark. The only sound in the air was the heavy thumps of his paws hitting the ground.

The air was cold that morning when Charles pulled into a diner just inside Gillham. After the eight hour drive, the mutants needed a break. Raven groaned as she pulled herself from the backseat, and Erik let out a similar grunt as he stretched his long legs out. The Aileys were the first of several mutants they intended on meeting. Angel had been the first mutant located and brought to the CIA by convenience- she had been the closest to them, dancing in a club in Langley. The men planned on working their way from Tennessee back to Virginia over the course of the day, picking up mutants along the way.

"How much further?" The young woman groaned as they entered the run down establishment. The walls were painted a pale blue with campy décor along them. The music playing in the background was a record by Elvis Presley that was skipping obnoxiously.

_In- In- In Disguise!_

"Thirty minutes at the most," Charles told her with a smile. "It's kind of exciting, isn't it? Another…" He dropped his voice as his gaze flickered around the empty restaurant, "Another mutant? And several more between here and Virginia?"

"Are you sure I can't come?" Raven asked with a frown. "What if you need me?"

The professor clapped her on the shoulder and shook it affectionately. "I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, if what I've seen of her relationship with Casten is accurate, she may need some help adjusting to the group. Especially Hank."

"Assuming they agree to come at all, of course," Erik added. When Charles frowned at his cynicism, he perked his brows up innocently. "What?"

The trio quieted as a waitress came out from the back. She was in her early forties with dark brown hair, a bit on the heavy side and quite frankly rather surprised to see them. They weren't any of the locals she knew. Tourists were rare this time of season… A feeling of dread crept up her spine at the sight of them. They didn't look like tourists. All three of them were too finely dressed to be visiting such a small town. Both of the men were nicely dressed, with the short in a mismatched three piece suit and the taller sporting a brown leather jacket and slacks. The young woman was in a black trench style jacket that hit her mid-thigh and flashed black nylons under a finely pressed skirt. The waitress forced a smile and made her way over to them.

"Howdy. You folks need a table?" She swallowed, looking between them. "Maybe I get'cha a coffee to start you off with?"

Erik attempted to smile disarmingly at her. "Actually, we're just looking for directions."

The woman nodded. A sense of relief flooded her at the idea of them leaving. "Oh?"

"Yes. We're looking for the Aileys' residence?" Charles asked her. "I believe they live in town?"

The waitress's features grew tense. She crossed her arms over her bountiful bust and narrowed her eyes at them with suspicion. "What'd ya want the Aileys' for?"

Charles and Erik shared a look. Raven took this as a cue to move forward. With a cautious, and what she hoped was disarming, smile, she explained, "We're here to see Josephine's daughter, Fern."

"Look, whatever you heard is wrong." The woman glared at the girl in front of her. A hint of fear glazed her brown eyes, but her voice stayed strong and angry. "Now Fern might be a little… _different_, but she ain't never hurt nobody."

"We never said she did." Erik tilted his head, eying her with a morbid sense of curiosity. "Why? Did someone say she had?"

The waitress bristled. "Nobody said nothin'. What'dya want with her?"

Charles stepped forward. A hand came to his friend's chest as he grinned at the woman. "We'd like to offer her a place at our institution. We're looking for people with certain…gifts, to help further our research."

The woman's features remained wary, although a bit of curiosity crept into her tone as she asked, "Why'd you want to do somethin' like that?"

Raven shifted. Her once tan skin shifted to a dark blue, ebbed with even darker navy scales. Her blonde hair turned to red and her blue eyes to a shocking electric yellow. "Because she's like us." She told the waitress, who was now gaping in wonder at her.

Slowly, a smile crossed the woman's face. "Oh thank god." A hand rose to clasp the small gold cross that hung on a thin chain around her neck. "I thought maybe… never mind. I'll go get you a map."

Erik watched with high brows as the plump woman retreated. "Well. That was… not the reaction I was expecting."

Raven smiled, transforming into the blonde she once was. Chipper and completely thrilled, she bounced slightly on her toes. "Me either."

"You really need to learn to give people the benefit of the doubt, Erik." Charles smirked as the waitress returned carrying a map.

In the boondocks of Lake Boone, Fern was still swimming, while Josephine watched from the docks. The woman was growing concerned for her daughter. Fern hadn't said much to her since the previous night's exchange. Just came in for lunch, ate her grilled cheese in silence and went right back to the water.

With a sigh, Josie kicked the frigid water with a sneakered foot. Bruno sniffed, but didn't move from his spot next to her. His big brown eyes followed her daughter as she swam past the dock, only a few feet away from them.

"Fern?"

The girl paused, but didn't look at her.

"Are you gonna tell me what's wrong or you gonna keep ignoring me?"

For a moment, the brunette said nothing. She kept her back turned to the elderly woman. Finally, Fern answered in a surprisingly hard voice, "You promised you wouldn't abandon me."

"I'm not," Josephine shot back with calm features. She'd learned long ago to mask her surprise at the things her child said. Fern's distrust of her even after all the years together stung, but she hid it well. "I just want you to be happy, baby."

"I am happy!" The mutant snapped over her shoulder. Her teeth were a shocking white against her dark grey lips. She pursed her them tightly and dipped down into the water, until only the bright irises of her eyes were visible. Turning, she locked them on her mother's feet as the cool lake water filled her nostrils, the burn familiar and comforting to her as she held her breath.

"You need to learn to be with people, Fern. It's not healthy for you to spend all your time with me."

Fern's eyes landed on her face. The thin membrane flicked across them, but Josie knew it had nothing to do with the water. Those flicks were the closest her daughter would come to crying.

She poked her head out of the lake. Hesitant, the mutant asked, "What if I can't, ma?"

"You have to learn to give people a chance."

"What if they treat me different? What if they think I'm a freak? _What if they wanna experiment on me_?" Fern sunk back down. The lake water filled her nostrils and once again the only part of her that was visible was her large blue eyes and the top of her head.

Josephine shrugged and ran a hand through her fluffed blonde hair. "Then fuck 'em. You were fine before 'em, you'll be fine after. And as for the experimentation thing… they'd have to go through me first."

An unseen smile pulled at the girl's lips. Bruno's nose twitched and he stood, sniffing the air.

"And you need to start spending time on land!" Her mother chided her, knowing she had won. "Fish'll start thinkin' you're one of 'em!"

Slowly the young woman swam up to the dock. She raised her head and flipped her dark hair from her face. Most of the black strands still clung to her scales, which glimmered in the bright sunlight iridescently. Squinting skeptically, Fern asked, "Promise?"

"If you don't like it, just come home. Plain and simple, baby." Josie reached out and pushed some of Fern's short, dark hair from her cheeks and eyes. Too busy with their quiet conversation, the women didn't notice the mutants on top of the hill until one of them ventured down.

"Um, excuse me? You wouldn't happen to be Mrs. Josephine Ailey would you?"

At the sound Charles Xavier's accent, Fern disappeared back into the water. Josie didn't notice, but Charles did, and his friendly smile dwindled slightly at the girl's frightened, panicked thoughts.

"Maybe." The woman stood from the docks. Her hand went to her dog's collar as he began to growl at the stranger. The other went into the back pocket of her jeans as she asked, "Who's askin'?"

His blue eyes fell to the dog a moment with concern. Clearing his throat, he offered his hand. When the dog's growls grew louder, he sheepishly dropped it. "Charles Xavier, we spoke on the phone?"

Josie smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling with warmth as she nodded. "Right." She looked down at the large animal. Tapping a finger on his snout, she scolded, "Quit it, B."

He whined and dropped down heavily on the docks.

Her attention returned to the young man. Little more than a boy in her eyes, but well dressed and seemingly well kept. He was a few inches shorter than her, with bright blue eyes and pale features.

"Well, Chuck, my daughter seems to have disappeared on us, so, how 'bout I make you…" She glanced behind him, one of her pale brows arching before she continued, "and your friends some tea. You limeys still like tea, right?"

"That would be lovely, thank you." He inclined his head with a gracious smile. His eyes flickered out to the open, still water. "Isn't it a bit chilly for her to be out there?"

"Nah, Fern's pretty adaptable when it comes to the weather." Josephine smirked with pride. "I've seen her drills holes in the ice to get out there."

The man's eyes widened with fascination. "Really? And she's never been sick?"

"Not once in the ten years I've known 'er."

He grinned at her. "Amazing. That would not only indicate a healing factor, but-"

"Don't talk shop with me, boy, I ain't too keen on listenin'." When she noticed the crestfallen look on his face, the elderly matron explained, "Science ain't really my bag, sugar."

"Oh. Well..." He rubbed the back of his neck, still able to hear the younger mutant's worried thoughts. "It's amazing she can do that."

"Yes it is," The woman agreed with a proud smile. Clapping a hand on his shoulder, she turned him toward the farm house on top of the hill. "Come on. You can fill me in while my daughter panics."

Charles smiled weakly. "I do hope she'll agree."

"I'm sure she will." Her blue eyes fell to the dog. Voice hard, she ordered, "Bruno. Guard."

The dog sat up to attention and began watching the water intently. The man cocked a brow, and Josie explained with a shrug, "Little girl, big lake. Figured the dog ought'a be a rescue one."

"Ah."

A wicked grin crossed the woman's weathered features. "Probably should'a warned ya, he don't like men much."

Charles smiled. "Perfectly understandable. How long has Fern been in your care, exactly, Mrs. Ailey?"

"Ten years. Eleven in December- and call me Josie." She ushered him back up the large hill where his companions waited for them at the top. She looked between them and nodded. "I'm Josie Ailey."

"Raven Darkholme." The younger woman offered her hand.

It was shook by a hand with strong, calloused fingers. "Nice to meet'cha. How 'bout you, young fellah? Got a name?"

Erik clasped her hand with a smirk. "Erik Lehnsherr."

"A Jew, huh?"

His light eyes narrowed defensively. "That's right."

"Well, shalom than, tiger. Easy now." She held her other hand up in a complacent gesture. "Didn't mean no offense."

"Hm." He pursed his lips as he regarded her.

She was somewhere in her late sixties and although the age showed in her face, she didn't look hard or inimical, as some women her age did.

Erik straightened up a touch when he realized she was studying him in a similar manner. "I'm sure you know why we're here, Mrs. Ailey."

"Josie. And yeah, I do, and frankly I got a couple questions." Her light eyes drifted to each of theirs, holding their gaze each a moment. "If that's okay with you folks."

A glint in the water drew Raven's attention away from them. Looking around the woman, she asked, "Is that your daughter?"

"It is." Josie nodded with a hint of suspicion. She hadn't expected the visitors, although if Casten trusted them she saw no reason not to.

The younger blonde turned to look the woman in the eye. "Do you mind if I speak to her? Privately, I mean?"

Josie swept her eyes up and down the young girl's form; she was a pretty little thing, with straw blonde hair and cherub like features. With a smirk and an indulgent nod, Josie told her, "Suppose it'd be fine. Bruno shouldn't give ya any trouble, so don't be shy."

Fern swam a few feet under the lake's surface. There was little sound down here, little to see besides seaweed and the odd sunfish, but it was home. The water was free of pollution and a hazy green to the girl's eyes. She wasn't sure how long she'd been down there, but judging by the slow burn in her throat, it was time to come up.

Her head had barely poked the water's calm surface when a feminine voice startled her.

"Hi."

She spun around in surprise, baring her teeth at the stranger. Raven stared at the girl. She had never seen a mutation like Fern's before. Her skin shifted and changed right before Raven's very eyes. It was so much…it wasn't like looking in a mirror, not quite, but, it was the closest Raven had come to seeing someone like her.

Fern glared at her. "What?" She snapped, baring sharp white teeth. "Never seen a freak before?"

"You're…" The young woman beamed, catching the girl off guard, "You just…" Her pale skin shifted to blue. "You're just like me."

Fern gaped up at her for a few seconds before quickly approaching the dock. She hopped on to it with an easy, well-practiced grace, and stood face to face with the only other person she had ever met with a physical mutation. The membrane flicked rapidly over her eyes as she stared at her. Swallowing, the grey skinned girl opened and closed her mouth a few times, but was completely stunned into silence.

"I'm Raven." The redhead offered her a blue hand.

"Fern." The taller replied breathlessly as she took it. "I- I've never..."

They shook hands before stepping back to simply regard one another.

In the bright sunlight, Fern's skin shimmered- stealing colors from the lake and the dock, and even mirroring some of Raven's own blue back at her. Most of her scales seemed to twist, alternating between light ash colors and an iron grey. It even caught some of the white of her bathing suit; although it wasn't as obvious. It was the darker of the scales that were reflective, catching the light and shining Raven's skin color back at her in a glimmer not unlike the way the sun reflected off the lake's surface.

Raven shook her head. "I've never met anyone with a mutation as extensive as mine either. It's…"

"Reassuring?" Fern offered her with a weak smirk, her eyes never leaving the scaled patterns along the other woman's cheeks.

Where her own scales intersected to completely cover her without overlap, Raven's skin seemed to be normal human skin(albeit blue). Scales that seemed to have an intricate design to them littered the smooth skin, carefully placed and Fern vaguely wondered their purpose. She supposed they were how Raven had been able to disguise herself- how she had been able to look so utterly _normal_.

The taller girl tilted her head, but her gaze continued to drift over Raven's face and neck. "Are you with Xavier?"

"Yes. We work with the CIA, or at least, we have been lately..." Raven blinked and shook her head as she continued with a flushed smile, "I mean, it's a place for mutants to come. Meet one another. Maybe even hone their abilities a bit."

Fern pursed her lips. "Any like us?"

"Not really, no." Raven admitted. "But they're still different like us. Freaks."

The other girl swallowed, the grey skin on her face darkening subtly. After a few seconds, she nodded. Reluctantly at first, but growing confident with each movement. "Okay. Let's go."

"Really?"

"Really. Let's go."

**A/N: I'd love to hear what you guys think!**


	4. Anyone?

"Now, Charlie…" Josephine batted her lashes at the men with a hint of condescension. "Tell me all about this little project of yours."

Charles and Erik shared an amused look, as the elderly lady set a cup of tea in front of each of them. She moved back to the fridge, grabbed a beer for herself and then dropped into the chair across from them. Letting one foot come up to rest on the table (an action she would slap her daughter for, but Josie was doing her best to maintain an aloof, cocky front), she snapped the tab out of it with her wedding ring. She looked between the young men with an arched brow, expectant.

It was Erik who spoke first as his gaze fell to her mud covered cowboy boot. "Well, we're looking to gather mutants from all over the country. To help them with their abilities, of course."

"We've been working with the CIA to show them that we are not so much a threat as we are allies," Charles added when his friend failed to mention it.

Josie took a sip of her beer. Peering over the rim, she hummed with a hint of suspicion to be found in her aged features. "And my daughter would be safe?"

Erik pursed his lips. Leaning forward just a touch, he assured her, "No harm would come to Fern. At the first sign of danger, if there is any, we intend on sending them home."

"Them?" she echoed curiously. Sitting up, she pulled her boot from the table. "You've found more… _special_ people already?"

Charles grinned with a child-like excitement that while endearing, didn't instill a lot of confidence in the older woman. His eagerness tended to make him look quite young. "We currently have two young people back at our base with rather astounding gifts and we're hoping to pick up several more on the way back to Virginia."

Her blonde brows rose. "Really?" A grin spread across her lips. "That's fantastic."

Erik smirked. "I'm glad you agree. Not as many parents are as… accepting as you are." He knitted his fingers together on the table as her smile dwindled. The German went on regardless, "Your daughter is lucky to have you."

"Hm." The elderly woman's eyes narrowed subtly at him. "How do I know you ain't just gonna lock her in a room and use 'er as a lab rat?"

Charles and Erik shared a conspiring smile. The former leaned forward. His fingers pressed to his temple, he spoke telepathically to her, "_We would never do that to a fellow mutant, Mrs. Ailey_."

Her blue eyes widened at him as a smile stretched over her lips. The men chuckled as she turned to Erik expectantly. The mutant smirked as raised his hand. The metal kettle floated toward it seamlessly, and he grinned proudly as the woman slapped the table with an open palm and a laugh.

"Amazing!" She crowed with nothing short of sheer warmth, "Both of you!"

It was at this moment her daughter ushered Raven into the kitchen. Charles smirked as he watched Erik's jaw drop. Subtle the Lehnsherr man was not. Admittedly, it was slightly hard not to gawk at a mutation as obvious as the young Ailey woman's. Much less when so much of her fantastic skin could be seen around her modest bathing gown.

"My god," The man beside him muttered.

Fern swallowed uncomfortably. The lines and waves of grey on her face and neck flickered, and for a moment Charles was sure he could see the teal from the wall behind her pass through them.

"Yeah." She chuckled with a hint of nervousness as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I get that a lot."

"Amazing, isn't she?" Raven asked fondly, her arm looping around the girl's shoulders. Fern tensed, but the blonde didn't notice as she pulled her into a brief, one armed hug. Some lake water stained her black wool coat, but she neither noticed nor cared.

Erik's gaze swept over the young woman. "Positively marvelous."

"Indeed you are, Miss Ailey." The telepath stood from his chair. With a bit of a smirk on his lips, he offered his hand as he continued, "Charles Xavier. I believe we spoke on the phone?"

"Yeah…" Fern offered him a crooked, somewhat embarrassed smile as she shook it. "Heh, sorry about that. I'm a lot better in person than on the phone."

He inclined his head, his bright smile never leaving his face. If he noticed the odd sensation of the pads of her fingers against his skin, he didn't mention it. "No apologies necessary, I assure you."

Josie looked between the four of them and beamed. "Fern, baby, do you have any questions for these nice young men?"

A head shake. "None." She looked meekly to her mother and shrugged. "I'm gonna go, if that's alright with you."

"Of course it is!"

Fern's large eyes narrowed at her mother. With a hint of a frown, she bristled. "You don't have to be so enthusiastic about it."

"Yes I do." Josie stood, still grinning. Her hands cupped her daughter's face a moment before she spun the teen toward the door. "Come on, babe, let's get you packed." She turned to point at the dog as she reached the threshold. "Bruno. Guard."

The massive beast quickly took to snarling at the men in front of him. They gaped at the elderly woman, who smirked at them. With mock innocence, she batted her eyes. "What? I might trust you with my daughter, but that don't mean I trust ya with my silverware."

With that the three women went upstairs. Defeated, Erik and Charles sat back down, the both of them pouting somewhat.

"Do you think they would mind if I took a quick shower?" The grey girl asked Raven as they moved up the stairs to her room. "I don't want to smell like lake the whole way back."

The blonde shrugged. "I don't see why not. I think they're just taking us to the airport." She smiled impishly at Fern and elbowed her gently in the side. "And I'd certainly appreciate it."

"Go on." Josie gave her daughter a light pat on the butt. "It'll give me some time to get to know Raven here."

Fern smiled tightly at them and slipped into main bathroom. It didn't take her long to undress and she made it a point to shower quickly. With well-practiced ease, she stripped the scent of stagnant water from her scaled skin and gave her hair a thorough washing. While it may have had some to do with not waiting to keep the others waiting, she mostly didn't want to give her mother too much time to (oh so lovingly) embarrass her.

Dressing in a pair of dirty sweats from the hamper, the young brunette wasted no time hanging around the bathroom.

The women looked up from the empty suitcase Josie had thrown on the bed.

Fern smiled sheepishly at them. "Hey, sorry."

"No biggie," Raven was quick to assure her with a grin. "We weren't sure what you might need so we thought we'd just wait."

Her mother smirked at the young blonde's particular ways. Apparently Raven seemed to be under the impression that the Ailey girl had some sort of fashion sense. With her hands in her back pockets, she glanced at the stranger with a shrug, "I told her you'd probably just dump the whole drawer, but she wouldn't listen to me."

It only took a few minutes to pack a bag. Like her mother had predicted, the young Ailey more or less just dumped her underwear drawer into the bag. Fern had never been very fussy about clothing. She mostly wore and only intended on taking what she knew she would wear. Practical clothing; things like sweats and jeans, long sleeve t-shirts and a few hooded sweatshirts to help hide her face. At Raven's pestering, Fern threw in an extra pair of sneakers and Josie convinced her to take her cowboy boots _("Just in case you go anywhere fancy,"_ the elderly woman insisted with a wink). As her mother and the stranger spoke, the grey girl slipped one of her clean bathing suits in one of the side pockets. She probably wouldn't find a chance to use it, but she figured it was best to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. She also put in a few baseball caps and an extra pair of leather gloves to cover her hands.

While she did this, the room was filled with idle chitchat about the CIA and Raven's abilities.

"So, you can imitate anyone?" Fern asked with a sly smirk that flashed a hint of sharp teeth. "Down to the very last detail?"

A touch hesitantly, the blonde confirmed, "Yes…"

The young Ailey's smile turned devious. "So if I ever wanted to see Charles naked you could show me his-"

"_Fern!"_

The grey girl winced as her mother whacked her upside the head. She snickered to herself and offered them a coy shrug. "It was just a question."

"The Jew is much more attractive!" Josie chided with a catlike grin of her own.

It dwindled down to a weak smirk as her only daughter closed her suitcase. Raven glanced between them with a soft smile of her own before offering to step out and give them some privacy. The Aileys' watched her go and waited for the door to close before looking at one another.

Josie cleared her throat. She had never been particularly comfortable with sentimentality. "You should probably get changed. Unless you wanna go down and show them young fellas your skivvies."

Fern glanced down at her pajamas. She rubbed the back of her neck with a sheepish nod. "Yeah, you're probably right."

She grabbed a pair of pants from her dresser and a long sleeve shirt. Her mother turned to give her some privacy. The girl had always been rather finicky about privacy, at least when it came to nudity. Over her shoulder, Josephine asked, "So… excited?"

"I guess." The girl slipped out of her sweats and into dark jeans. It was normal for the young mutant to cover as much skin as possible when she was in public, and she reached for a tenser bandage as she went on, "A bit nervous, actually."

"Understandable." Josie nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. Licking her lips, she went on, "They seem nice."

Fern winced as she tightened the bandage around her chest. Her modest bust was easy to hide, but the process of pressing them down was still rather unpleasant. She had found at an early age the less feminine you appeared, the less you were hassled (at least about certain things). She tucked in the excess piece into the edge with a frown and reached for a long sleeve black t-shirt.

"I guess."

"Not that I expected any less," A hint of smugness laced the elderly woman's tone.

Fern rolled her eyes behind her mother's back. She hated that tone. She tucked her shirt into her pants with a frown. "You think they'll turn me into some kind-"

"Of lab rat? No," Josie finished as she turned to look at her daughter, just in time to see her sliding on a worn pair of leather gloves. Her blue eyes rolled. "Are those really necessary?"

"Better safe than sorry, right?" The girl grinned puckishly, flashing some sharp white teeth and just a hint of annoyance. As if to emphasize her point, she gave them a tug up her wrist.

Her mother dropped her hands to Fern's shoulders. She watched her daughter's face a moment before brushing some of the still wet black hair from her cheeks. Fern bit her lip as Josie spoke, "If you get uncomfortable and want to come home, you're welcome to. I won't be disappointed, so long as you try, okay, baby?"

"Okay, Ma."

"That's my girl," Josie said fondly.

Fern threw her arms around her, hugging her tightly and burying her face in her mother's neck. Voice barely above a whisper, she closed her eyes, "Thank you so much for everything."

The woman didn't say anything to that, just stroked the girl's hair and held her just as tight.

_**Note: Okay, so I would never recommend anyone ever use a tenser bandage to bind their chest, but apparently sports bras weren't invented until 1977, so I couldn't use that method. Also, sorry for the wait.**_


	5. Girlfriends, Goodbyes and Pilots

Josephine pulled back with a sigh. Her blue eyes moved over her daughter's features, red rimmed and radiating warmth as she thumbed Fern's scaled cheek. They were rather close in height now. With a smirk, she set her hand on top of the girl's head and gave it a pat.

Fern pulled back from her with a groan. Brushing her black hair from her face, she huffed. "Oh my god, Ma, it's an inch! Quit gloating!"

"An inch more than you got, baby."

The young woman pursed her lips. With a shake of her head, she stepped around her mother and grabbed her suitcase off the bed. Throwing it on her back, Fern shrugged as she tightened her grip on its handle. She adjusted to the extra weight with ease and nodded toward the door. "Walk me out?"

The elderly woman inclined her head. "I'd be happy to."

"Yeah, a little too damn happy if ya ask me."

Josie grinned. She wrapped her arm around the girl's broad shoulders and steered her toward the door. "I'm gonna turn your bedroom into a kennel for Bruno's little girlfriend."

"Bruno's _little_ girlfriend is a hundred pound Rottweiler."

"So?" She gave her shoulder a squeeze before letting her arm drop. As they slipped out of the room, she went on, "Giant dogs with unknown rabies statuses need love too, baby."

Fern's eyes narrowed slightly. "No they don't."

"Yes, they do." The woman smirked. As she began to lead her down the stairs, she continued, "Don't act like they're not adorable together."

The grey skinned girl shook her head. "I'm starting to think you've got a thing for strays, Ailey."

Josephine turned and shot her a glare. Eyes fierce and tone stern, the blonde snapped, "Don't talk about yourself like that- and don't you roll your eyes at me Fern Ailey, or I will knock you down the rest of these stairs, so help me God, darlin'."

"Your idle threats have no effect on me anymore, old woman." Fern winked playfully at her.

"Don't make me get the broom, sugar."

The younger Ailey's skin flickered a moment and she quickly assured her mother, "I'll be good."

"Well," A masculine voice cut in. The women looked over to find the taller man, Erik, standing a few feet away from the bottom of the stairway. His smile wide and just a touch wicked, he continued, "Not too good, I hope."

Josie lifted a fine blonde brow at him. She felt Fern tilt away from the man, could see her skin twist with discomfort from the corner of her eye and put a hand on her shoulder. Voice a touch colder than it had been, the elderly woman asked him, "Didn't I tell Bruno to guard you?"

"Raven's spoiling him with her affections in the kitchen as we speak." Completely undeterred by her tone, he looked back at Fern. "All packed?"

She offered him a curt nod and stepped down the final stair.

It was then Charles and Raven made their reappearance, with Bruno trailing hotly at the blonde woman's heels. Both mutants wore excited smiles. It was the man who took the lead however, and quickly moved to take the suitcase still slung over the younger Ailey's back. "Erik! Where are your manners?! May I?"

"I'm good," Fern told him, her skin still a bit darker than usual.

With a more genuine grin, she moved to give her dog's head a rub. Bruno let out a gruff bark and his tongue lolled out, relishing in the abundance of affection he seemed to be getting lately. The membrane over Fern's eyes blinked over them as she hugged the large animal. Her heart heavy, she pulled away from him. The girl ruffled his cheeks and growled playfully at him before standing.

With a hitch her voice, she asked, "Shall we?"

Charles nodded and led the group outside.

"Call me when you get there," Josie told her daughter, but she made no move to venture past the door. Her features steeled, she offered her daughter a wink as Fern squared her shoulders. The grey girl returned the gesture with a smirk and threw her suitcase in the trunk before sliding into the backseat.

The dog began to whine as Fern got in the car. It moved restlessly around Josephine's feet, whimpering and pulling to follow, but the woman kept a tight hold on the dog's collar.

Raven slid into the back seat beside her with a soft encouraging smile on her lips. Fern didn't acknowledge it, nor did she look back at her mother or the house, as they pulled out into the hidden driveway that would lead to the highway.

"So, Miss Ailey," Charles began. He glanced at her in the rearview mirror and grinned at her, "Did Raven mention that we hope to have several others at the base by the time your plane arrives?"

"More or less." Fern smirked. "I guess this means you don't know Casten, huh?"

"Not exactly," the British man admitted. "But from what I've seen, he seems like a lovely man."

The grey girl hummed with doubt. "He's alright."

"Not a fan of doctors?" Erik asked from the passenger seat. His suitcase open in front of him, his stoic gaze didn't leave the pages in his lap.

"Not at all."

The blonde beside her pursed her lips to suppress a smile. "Well…" Raven chuckled, "I'm sure Hank will be happy to hear that."

"Hank?" Fern repeated skeptically.

"He's one of us," Raven was quick to assure her. "He's a scientist at the base."

Charles stiffened in the front seat. His blue eyes lifted once more to the mirror and he cleared his throat, earning a quick, frightened glance from the grey skinned girl. Delicately raising his fingers to his temple, the Brit let Erik take control of the vehicle as he watched memories play in Fern's mind. There was a haze of scalpels and speculums, of needles and restraints put in place by cold hands and he offered her what he had seen of Hank in response.

Fern flinched at the intrusion into her mind. It wasn't painful; just surprising. She honestly hadn't thought of what Charles' or Erik's mutations could be. Frankly, she had been too blown away by Raven to really care. It was odd to see, pictures playing out in front of her eyes in such a way. There had been no television in her home growing up or in the homes of anyone she knew (not that she knew many people), but she supposed that the experience was similar.

The young man Charles showed her wore horn rimmed glasses and spoke excitedly about genetics. His enthusiasm reminded the scaled girl of Casten. The psychic also showed her his feet and his hesitance, something Fern was grateful for and she eased back into her seat before the panic could really set in.

The blonde beside her glanced between the two but said nothing on their little exchange. Instead, she asked if Fern had ever been on a plane before. When she answered in the negative, Raven beamed. "You'll love it. It's so pretty up there."

Fern lifted an amused, near invisible brow at the blonde, but stayed quiet.

"You're not scared of heights, are you?"

"No."

"Oh, good." When the taller girl merely continued to smirk at her, Raven looked to the front seat. "Where are you fellas off to again?"

"Our next mutant is in Georgia," Erik replied as they continued down the highway.

Charles had taken control of the wheel once more and they were making fairly good time. Without a doubt they would be at the private landing strip in less than an hour. Agent Sullivan had been the one to make the arrangements and had assured them he would meet the young ladies at the strip when they landed in Virginia.

"Do you know anything about them?" Fern asked curiously.

"His name is Armando," Charles told her. Keeping his eyes on the room, he added, "he drives a cab in Atlanta."

The young woman nodded, but let Raven take over the conversation once more. The blonde was exuberant, happy to fill the silence with banter with Charles about the prospect of finding more mutants. Erik and Fern were content to listen with the former occasionally butting in to remind his friend that it wasn't the best idea to put blind faith in the government.

By the time they reached the airport, the two were in an intense discussion about the difference between trusting humanity and naivety. Both of the young women were very bored by it. Raven, because she had heard it before, and Fern, because she knew better than to trust anyone past a certain extent. While Charles peaceful outlook was adorable, she had seen Erik's harsh reality and found it easier to accept.

The plane itself had been stripped of all staff except for a pilot, who had been informed early on that he would be couriering two young ladies with skin conditions. The pilot seemed completely at ease with the notion and even made a point to introduce himself to the both of them before takeoff.

"Michael Jacobi."

Fern arched a brow, but said nothing as he shook hands with Raven. He was in his mid to late forties, pale and portly, but smiling pleasantly. When he hesitated to do the same with Fern, she smiled at him and simply lifted a hand in a wave. "Good to meet you."

The relief was palpable on his face, but the young Southerner didn't take offense. He inclined his head and tipped his hat respectively. "And you, Miss Ailey."

"You're not put off by my…?" A gloved hand gestured to her face.

"For the money they pay me, you could be Satan himself and I'd still be have to transport you, Miss Ailey."

"Who says I'm not?"

Michael faltered a moment before letting out a nervous chuckle.

Raven sent an elbow into Fern's side. The grey girl didn't so much as flinch, merely continued to smirk at the man in front of them. When he remained uncomfortable, Fern blinked and let her expression soften a touch. "Have you been a pilot long?"

"Nearly twenty five years."

"Were you in the war?"

He blinked, "Why, yes, I was."

"Then I thank you for your services." The Ailey girl inclined her head in respect. Brightening a touch, she smiled and asked, "Do you think you could show me how me the cockpit? I've never been on a plane before."

Michael returned her grin and nodded. "I'd be happy to." His gaze shifted to Raven, "Would you care to join us, Miss Darkholme?"

"No thanks." The blonde waved a dismissive hand. "I've heard enough about plane semantics and how engines work in the past week to last a life time."

Fern lifted a near invisible brow, but didn't ask. She merely assumed it had something to do with Hank, the young man she had gushed about on the ride to the airport (much to her peers annoyance). With a shrug, the young woman looked back to Michael. "Lead the way, Mr. Jacobi."

**A/N: After all your wonderful reviews, I decided to post a bit sooner than I usually would. A shout out to my lovely beta, _Linda Ku_, for helping me with this! **


	6. Agent Sullivan, Hank and Angel

The airplane took them directly to the C.I.A landing strip at the base in Virginia. It was mostly desolate, with a few lone agents scuttling about. The air was mild and a touch humid, surprising for the time of year, but not so bad as to have something to complain about. The afternoon sun was shining brightly overhead, warming the tarmat under the plane's wheels and soon to be under the young women's feet.

Fern was back in her gloves and jacket, something she had shed whilst on the plane. She'd thrown on a baseball cap for good measure and let Raven take the lead after they bid the pilot goodbye. With her bag slung over her back, the taller woman followed the blonde out of the plane.

"So, we're about to meet Agent Sullivan," Raven explained as they made their way down the air stairs. She glanced over her shoulder. "You'll like him, he's really nice."

"Is he a mutant?"

"No, but he likes them. He's nice."

The grey girl lifted a doubtful brow. "The nicer you say he is, the worst I expect, you know that, right?"

Before she could respond to Fern's suspicion, a faint call of _"Ladies!"_ broke their mutual frowning. Raven turned toward the voice, not noticing the other mutant eying her warily, before Fern looked toward the sound as well.

A plump man in a black suit was coming toward them in a golf cart. He was grinning widely, his dark eyes hidden behind spectacles and his hair perfectly parted as he stopped the vehicle.

"Agent Sullivan," Raven greeted him with a smile. "Good to see you again."

The agent in black returned her sentiment as he shook her delicate hand. "Likewise, Ms. Darkholme. How was the flight?"

"Long."

"I bet." Agent Sullivan lifted his gaze to the brunette behind the blonde. Most of her features were hidden under her baseball cap, with only her luminous blue eyes gleaming out at him. From what he could tell, her skin was completely scaled except for her lips (which were pursed) and she seemed to radiate nervous energy. Her appearance was jarring, but not wanting to make her uncomfortable, he steeled his surprise as best he could. He offered Fern his hand with a smile. "You must be Ms. Ailey."

"Must be," The girl teased with a hint of a smirk. She kept her lips purposely close together, not wanting to scare the seemingly _nice_ man off with her sharp teeth.

His handshake was firm but not so tight as to be painful or an attempt at dominance. She liked that, just as she liked his lack of reaction to her admittedly outlandish features. A more genuine simper tugged at her mouth as he offered to take her bag.

"I think I can handle it." Licking her lips (and flashing a very pink tongue in the process), Fern shifted the weight on her back. "We're staying in your division, right?"

Agent Sullivan nodded. "That you are, Ms-"

"Call me Fern."

"Fern," The pudgy man repeated with an ill repressed grin. "Call me Blake. If you'll follow me, ladies, I can show you to your quarters. Ms. Salvadore's been waiting for you."

As he turned to led them to the golf cart, Fern gave Raven's hip a gentle check with her own. When the blonde arched a brow, the grey girl smirked. "And you thought I'd have trouble making friends."

Raven scoffed and gave her a playful shove toward the cart.

After a tour that could only be described as excruciatingly long and unnecessary, Agent Sullivan eventually took them to the break room turned meeting area. The only person in the room was a young woman dressed, much like the agent, all in black. She grinned as they entered.

"Finally!" Angel gushed as she tossed the magazine she had been reading aside. "Took you long enough, Raven."

"We got caught up with the welcoming brigade," Raven explained as she accepted a hug from the shorter girl.

As the two said their hellos, the lithe brunette turned to the Agent in black. Fern adjusted her hat and she asked if he could show her to a telephone.

"I'd be happy to, but I think there's someone who'd like to meet you first." Agent Sullivan tipped his head toward Angel, who was smiling at them.

Thus Fern was forced to face yet another person who was entirely too excited to meet her. Angel Salvadore was a beautiful young woman around her age, with light brown skin and dark eyes lined with dark make up. Her gaze was more curious than alarmed, something Fern appreciated, but the shorter girl made no move to shake her hand.

Eying the gloves on the new comer's hands, Angel asked, "How was the flight?"

"Informative," The grey girl replied with a smirk.

"Well, it wouldn't have been so _informative_ if you didn't spend the entire time in the cockpit," Raven cut in, enjoying the ripple of embarrassment that coursed through Fern's scales at her teasing.

Angel's brows shot up. "Woah! How'd you do that?"

"Do what?" The taller brunette cocked her head with false naivety, hoping the girl would drop the subject.

Angel did not. "That thing with your skin!"

Fern rubbed the back of her neck. Her skin wavered, the muted colors swirling with frustration. This wasn't exactly an abnormal conversation for her. "It just does that sometimes. Sorry, I know it throws some people off."

"Miss Ailey." Recognizing the girl's discomfort, Agent Sullivan stepped in. A careful hand on Fern's back, he offered her a crooked grin. "Perhaps it's time you make that phone call. I can introduce you to Hank afterwards."

As they turned and left the break room, the mutant pursed her lips before licking her teeth. "I really don't want to meet him."

Agent Sullivan glanced down at the girl's stern features. "He's not that bad. A little awkward, but a nice guy."

"We don't have to get physicals, do we?"

"Not that I know of."

"Good." Fern nodded and let her tense features mellow somewhat.

Hoping to change the girl's mood, the man changed the subject, "You're from Tennessee, right?"

Fern nodded, "Boone Lake. It's a pretty small town." She gave one of the men they passed a wide berth. "I don't think I've seen so many people in one place before- I mean, not since I was a kid, anyway."

"Really?" Agent Sullivan blinked in surprise. There were maybe a dozen people in the hall, not nearly enough to be considered _many_ by any means. Still, he supposed with Fern's condition, it only made sense the young woman avoided certain social aspects. He offered her a friendly smile. "Well, no one will bother you here, and if they do, they'll answer to me."

He held the door to his office open for her. Fern stared at him a long moment, but let her features blossom into a grin of her own. "Thank you."

"You are most welcome, young lady." The Agent in black inclined his head respectfully. "Now, why don't I go fetch Hank and give you and whoever it is you're calling some privacy?"

The girl nodded before she stepped into the office. "Thanks."

It was clean and smelled faintly of cologne mixed with coffee. She dropped her bag at the door before venturing further in. With a hint of amusement tugging at her lips, Fern looked over the various degrees and awards that lined the wall. There weren't many, but there were a few for going above and beyond the call of duty and she had to admit, she was impressed. Other than that, however, there wasn't much. Nothing seemed to indicate he had any sort of family or loved ones and the girl felt a twinge of sadness for the good natured man who had guided her in and done his best to make her comfortable.

Fern plucked the handle from the receiver and made to call her mother. Her fingers didn't fit in the dial. Cursing whoever invented rotary phones, the girl pulled her gloves off with her teeth. They fell to the desktop without second thought. She jabbed at the dial and bared her teeth at it when her fingertip stuck to the rim of it. Her pointed fingernail was just barely too short to spin the dial. With a huff, she pulled open the desk drawer and grabbed the first pen she saw. Scowling, she began to tick off her phone number with the capped end of it.

Josie answered on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Well someone's eager," Fern teased.

"Ha ha," Her mother replied sarcastically. Excitement painfully obvious in her tone, she asked, "How was your flight? Have you met any other mutants yet? What's the weather like? You didn't pack enough. I should've made you pack more."

The girl rolled her eyes, but didn't resist grinning at the woman's obvious worry. "The flight was fine. I've met one other girl and I'm supposed to meet some doctor guy any minute now."

"What kind of doctor?"

"A mutant one, apparently."

With a hint of confusion, Josie asked, "Like, a doctor of mutants or a mutant who is a doctor?"

"The second one."

"Well, ain't that swell." There was nothing but sincerity in Josie's words.

Fern felt her voice catch as a few seconds of silence lingered between them. She could practically feel the distance and it weighed on her a moment before she spoke again, "And I packed plenty, thank you."

"Oh, you did not!" Her mother snapped playfully at her. "Underwear and jeans ain't enough for anything."

A bit bristled, the young woman shot back, "They're all you wear."

"Well I'm not trying to impress anybody."

"Neither am I, so what?"

"So you could meet a nice young fella while you're there," Josie replied innocently, unable to see how hard Fern rolled her eyes at that. "Then what? You're just gonna woo him in your skivvies and baseball cap?"

"Maybe I will!" The grey girl giggled.

"Maybe you'll _have to_ more like."

A faint knock on the door interrupted Fern's comeback. Agent Sullivan poked his head inside and made to leave when he realized she was still on the phone. The mutant held up a hand and stood up straighter. Talking into the receiver, she told her mother she had to go.

"Okay, be safe, baby."

"Thanks, you too. Love ya, Ma."

"Love you too, darlin'. Try not to bite anybody."

"Yeah, whatever."

Josie chuckled before she hung up.

Fern held the receiver to her ear a bit longer than necessary. She already missed the sound of her mother's voice, but squared her shoulders and grabbed her gloves as Agent Sullivan ushered a young man inside.

It was the same one Charles had shown her. Tall and skinny and a touch too pale, Hank visibly faltered at the sight of the young woman beside the desk. Both Charles and Blake had warned him about her skin, but he hadn't expected her to have such a dramatically inhuman appearance.

Fern didn't like him. Perhaps it was the pristine white lab coat he was wearing or how anxiously he was adjusting his glasses, but she didn't like him. It was judgmental and petty, she knew, but the young woman didn't particularly care. She tugged her leather gloves on and crossed her arms in a defensive, insolent manner.

"You must be Fern," The scientist assumed, moving toward her with an outstretched hand.

Interest gleamed in his blue eyes and for every step forward, Fern took one back until she was eventually around the other side of the desk. Practically beside Agent Sullivan in the doorway, she replied with a curt, "You can call me Miss Ailey."

"Oh." He flinched somewhat, but was quick to reply, "Well, you can call me Hank."

"What's your last name?"

"Uh, McCoy?"

Fern nodded curtly. "Let's stick with that." At the Agent's gentle, encouraging nudge, she rolled her eyes and added, "For now."

Hank smiled with a hint of dejection in his features. "Very well. Agent Sullivan has asked me to show you to the women's quarters, so anytime you're ready…"

The grey girl grabbed her bag from the floor and motioned with a flick of her wrist. "Lead the way, McCoy."

The skinny man nodded and quickly darted between the two of them. Once he was gone, Fern shot the man in black a glare. "Traitor."

"Now, now, Fern, there's no need for name calling," Agent Sullivan teased, his hand dropping carefully to her shoulder. He steered her out of his office, assuring her, "If you need me, you know where to find me. I'll check in on you later, alright?"

The young woman gave a hum that lacked conviction as the door closed at her back. Hackles effectively raised, she shot Hank a suspicious glance. "I don't need to have a physical do I?"

"Well, it wouldn't be a bad idea- I mean, no, no you do not. Not at all," He assured her, his eagerness to study her skin stumbling at the sight of her bared sharp teeth.

"Good." Fern nodded curtly. Tightening the grip on the handle of her suitcase, she followed a step or so behind him. Raking her gaze over his back, she ignored his glance over his shoulder as she asked what exactly his mutation was. When he blushed, she expanded, "Raven said it was physical. Charles showed me your feet, but is that all?"

Hank frowned at her wording. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She lifted an apathetic shoulder. "Nothing."

In truth, the young woman was slightly saddened by the fact that Hank looked perfectly normal. Especially since Raven could hide herself so well. Fern felt a twinge of bitterness, but pushed it down easily enough. She couldn't fault the blonde for wanting normalcy, but the young woman found herself a bit disappointed none the less. She had expected Raven to wear her natural blue skin; first when they were in the car, then the plane and when she hadn't transformed back when they got to the base, Fern knew she would be the lone freak of the group. The only one with a physical mutation that could be seen, but she hid her sadness well.

"Here we are," Hank told her with a weak smile as they came to a stop. "It's not much, but you and the other girls should be quite comfortable here. If you like, you could rest for a while before the others come."

"No, that's alright." Fern slipped inside the room.

It wasn't as small as she had expected from his warning, but she supposed after living in a five by five room for four years, any room seemed large by comparison. With two sets of bunk beds lining parallel walls. It was painted a faint grey and her skin mirrored the color a moment as she pulled her baseball cap off. She tucked it in her back pocket before tossing her suitcase on to the bottom bunk of the closest bed.

Her hair was pin straight and fell just past her shoulders. She fluffed it absently as she looked to Hank.

The young man was slender, bordering on skinny and seemed to be trying to cave in on himself. His shoulders were drawn together and his features a bit tense, but Fern didn't take offense to it.

The dislike was mutual after all, and she could admit, she had done her best to instill said dislike in him. Instead of trying to make friends with her sparkling personality and charm, she merely asked him to direct her back to the break room where the other girls were.

"I'd be happy to show you-"

Fern raised a hand to stop him. Hank's gaze flickered down to her gloves curiously, but didn't interrupt her when she told him she could find her own way.

**A/N: Sorry for the wait- the new chapter won't take as long. Shout out to my lovely beta, **_**Linda Ku**_**, for all her wonderful help! Also, yes, Agent Sullivan is the man in the black suit, Oliver Pratt's character in the movie. They never gave him a name and from what I can tell, he doesn't have a fandom name. **


	7. The Boys Arrive

Fern liked to think she was interacting with the other women fairly well. She had maintained eye contact, offered smiles when expected, and even managed to keep from crawling up the walls when she caught sight of Hank in his little white lab coat in the doorway.

The young man raised his hand in greeting, a bit startled by how the lithe woman was perched on the back of the couch like a snake coiled to strike. With her shoulders drawn up and gloved fingers tense on the couch beside her feet. It was a rather impressive stance given that her sneakers probably didn't hold much traction and how delicately she seemed to rest with all her weight on the balls of her feet and toes. She didn't wave back; just stared at him with cold, expressionless eyes.

Looking over at the girls on the couch across from her, he greeted, "Evening, ladies. I just thought you should know we just got word from one of the others, they should be arriving within the hour."

"Really?" Raven beamed at him, her delight obvious and endearing. It also earned a faint blush from Hank, which prompted Angel and Fern to share an amused smirk, but they stayed quiet.

"Yes, hopefully," He replied, toeing the floor in a bashful manner. "I believe they took a cab."

"I can't believe we're finally going to meet them!" The blonde began to bounce excitedly in her seat, slapping Angel gently on the leg while she gushed, "All us mutants together in one place, it's amazing!"

Fern lifted an apathetic shoulder and reminded the blonde nonchalantly, "All the easier for the government to wipe us out in one fell swoop, too."

Raven rolled her eyes as Angel snickered. "Fern. Seriously. Do we have to go over this again?"

"I'm just saying, it seems a little odd." The grey girl sniffed, her gloves squeaking as she unlaced her fingers. Her tone was surprisingly mellow as she lifted a shoulder and raised a passive, gloved hand, "If ever there was a chance to wipe us out, it's now. They could do anything to us. We're miles from home, alone, and pretty much defenseless, Rav. Nothing's stopping them from going all _Valentine's Day Massacre_ on us."

The blonde shook her head. Blue eyes rolling, she huffed at her new friend. "You're being paranoid."

"You're being naïve," The brunette shot back.

Raven scoffed. "Okay, _Erik_, I'll keep that in mind."

Fern glared at her, but kept her mouth shut. Eyes narrowed, she pointedly looked down at the couch cushions a few feet below her. Canines grinding together, the girl's skin flickered with irritation as she rocked on the balls of her feet.

"You said they're all coming together?" It was Angel who took over the conversation for Fern. In truth, she found the grey girl a little intimidating; a bit too stand offish and tight lipped, but she could admit, Fern had a valid point. Still, she didn't want to indulge in the taller brunette's paranoia. "In the same cab?"

Hank pushed his glasses up, his gaze slowly shifting from Fern's scowl to Angel's open, curious expression. "Yes, it seems one of them owns one and offered to pick the others up."

"Armando."

The young man blinked in surprise. He looked back to the grey girl. Her features were muted and for a moment he was unsure she had spoken at all. "Pardon?"

"His name is Armando," She told him without looking up.

Angel's eyes widened. "Are you psychic too?"

"What?" Fern blinked in surprise. Her body tense and shoulders drawn up, the young woman was visibly uncomfortable with all eyes on her. "No, Charles said so on the way up."

The shorter brunette's shoulders slumped. "Oh."

"Sorry to disappoint?" Fern offered with a chuckle.

Raven grinned at the sound, pleased the air had lightened once more. She looked to Hank, who was standing a bit stiffly beside them and gave the seat next to her a pat. "Come on, sit with us."

"I can't- I'm hoping to finish some semantics on the Blackbird before they get here."

"Oh." The blonde's face fell somewhat. After a second of pouting, she forced herself to brighten once more. "Okay. We'll see you soon, right?"

"Of course! I'm just as excited as you are, you know."

Fern watched the exchange curiously. She noted their tiny smiles; noted Hank's slightly flushed cheeks and Raven's somewhat dreamy gaze and wondered just what it was that drew such different people to one another. She didn't dwell on it, not really caring enough about either of them to speculate why that may be.

Instead, she hopped off the back of the couch. On long legs, she strode over to the fridge behind the bar and got out a bottle of Coke. She held it up for the girls to see as Hank made his exit. "Anyone want one'a these while I'm here?"

"I do," Angel replied.

Raven only shook her head. As Fern made her way back, she spoke, "So, what'd you think the guys can do?"

"I thought you didn't want us talking about our mutations until everyone was here?" The brunette beside her asked, arching a thick brow as she took the Coke from Fern. Reaching for her purse, she nodded with a quick, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," The grey girl replied before she dropped into one of the chairs beside Angel. She pulled one of her gloves off with her teeth and kicked a foot up on the table in front of her (something she never would have done in the presence of her mother). "I thought Charles would've told you."

As the brunette beside her continued to search for a church key in her purse, Raven sighed. "He said he didn't want to ruin the surprise."

Fern hummed and popped the lid off with a sharp tipped fingernail. It clattered onto the table and she leaned over and did the same to Angel's before the girl could ask.

The shorter woman smiled. "I didn't know you could do that!"

The lithe girl shrugged, but only sipped her soda in reply.

Less than forty minutes later, Hank was done with his work. Agent Sullivan had poked his head in to inform him that the other mutants had arrived and the younger man couldn't have stripped out of his lab coat faster. A wide grin stretched over his lips as he fell in step with the Agent.

"When did they get here?" He asked, hoping he hadn't offended them by being late like he had Fern. "They haven't been waiting long, have they?"

"Only a minute or two," Agent Sullivan assured him. "Apparently they had trouble finding a parking space."

The chubby man held the door open for him and the two slipped out into the slowly dying light. Three young men stood outside. They were speaking in quiet tones and turned to face the men as they came toward them.

"Gentlemen." Agent Sullivan nodded with clear excitement. "So glad you could make it."

"Glad you'd have us," Armando replied with a grin of his own. He was the tallest of the three, with dark skin and a small afro. He offered his hand and was pleasantly surprised when the Agent shook it without hesitation. "I'm Darwin, this here's Sean and the convict in the leather jacket is Alex."

"Nice, man, real nice." Alex shook his head with a crooked smile of his own. He was the shortest, although not by much, with perfectly styled blond hair and a few moles dotting his skin. He returned Sean's playful shove with a bit more force than necessary, but the redhead didn't seem to mind.

Sean stepped up to Hank, extending his own hand as Alex shifted to shake the Agent's behind them. He was lanky and pale, his skin covered in freckles and the only one with any form of luggage, even if it was just a backpack. "You're Hank McCoy, right?"

"Yes, I am." The brunet inclined his head. "How was your drive?"

The redhead shrugged, the strap of his beat up backpack falling slightly. "Long, but good. You're a mutant, too, right?"

The scientist's smile seemed to tighten a touch, still a bit uncomfortable discussing his abilities with strangers. While Raven had jumped at the chance to show off her mutation, Hank wasn't quite so eager to show his malformities to the world. "Yes, I am."

"You're the guy with the feet," Alex cut in, eying Hank's shoes with morbid curiosity. "Can we see 'em?"

Hank frowned at that. "Maybe later."

"Come on, we're all freaks here, right?" The blond smiled at him in a way that wasn't quite friendly as Sean scoffed at his lack of tact.

Hank swallowed. His smile wavered slightly, but remained forced on his slowly flushing face.

Darwin rolled his eyes. "Lay off, Summers. Not everyone's so accepting of your attitude as we are."

"He really doesn't appreciate us," Sean said in a stage whisper to Armando.

The taller young man shook his head sagely. "He really doesn't."

Alex rolled his eyes at them.

Hank gestured behind him, toward the doors of the building. "Shall we go meet the girls?"

Sean immediately perked up. "Girls? There are girls here?"

"Charles didn't tell you?"

"Probably because he was striking out at the aquarium," Alex explained, elbowing the redhead in the ribs.

"Hey!"

"There's three of them," Agent Sullivan explained. "All very nice young ladies."

"Although I doubt one of them will be to your, uh, liking," Hank told them with a cryptic little smirk.

The man in black frowned at him. "Hank."

Darwin eyed the two of them curiously. "Why not?"

"You'll see," Hank told them with a cryptic little simper. Nodding, he turned toward the building. "I'll show you to your room first, then we can meet them."

The three newcomers shared a curious glance, but shrugged off his odd words easily enough. It was Darwin who spoke as they were led toward the door, "Any chance of us stopping by the washrooms first? Getting cleaned up before we meet them?"

"I don't see why that would be a problem," Agent Sullivan told him with a shrug. The man in the black suit glanced at the younger scientist. "Why don't you show them the way, while I check in on Moira and the others?"

Hank nodded and held the door open for them.

Darwin went in first, followed closely by Sean, with Alex trailing behind. The blond looked down at Hank's feet curiously before he shot the taller brunet an unimpressed smirk. "They don't look that big to me."

"Alex!" Darwin snapped, reaching around Sean to grab the shorter man by the collar. He yanked him firmly inside. "Quit bein' rude!"

Inside, Angel and Fern were sitting in awkward silence. Well, Angel was, Fern was completely comfortable with the lack of conversation between them. The grey girl had put her hat back on, slung around backwards on her head, and seemed quite content to merely sip her Coke, while Angel struggled to fill the silence Raven had left behind when she went to powder her nose.

"So…" Angel faltered as Fern's inhuman eyes flickered toward her; at least, she thought they did. It was kind of hard to gauge where the young women was looking, given her lack of pupils. "What can you do?"

A crooked smile flashed very sharp teeth. "I thought we were supposed to wait?"

The shorter woman made a show of looking around, first to the right then to the left, before looking over the back of the couch. "I don't see anyone around to tell on us."

"You've held out this long, Salvadore," Fern teased with a grin. She noticed the way Angel's gaze dropped to her sharp canines and even sharper bicuspids, but didn't cover her teeth. "Don't ruin the surprise now."

The shorter brunette sighed. "I guess."

Silence fell over them once more. Fern shifted, pulling her foot off the table to join it's twin on the seat of her chair. "How long have you been at the base?"

Before Angel could answer, Raven's voice broke between them. "Guys, look who's here!"

Angel spun in her seat as Fern quirked upwards onto her toes to look over the other girl's head.

The blonde led the young men inside, with Darwin leading and Hank trailing at the rear. While Angel was rather unimpressed, Fern was quick to beam at them. One hand shot out to point in their direction as she cheered, "See?! I told you there'd be more like us!"

Hank's face went very red and his gaze fell to Darwin as Raven gaped at the brunette. "_Fern!_"

"What?"

"That's not part of his mutation, he's black," The blonde whispered fiercely at her. She turned to apologize to a stunned Darwin, but Fern's silvery voice interrupted her before she could start.

"Not him!" The grey girl shook her head with a hint of frustration. Her finger shifted an inch to the left to fall on Sean. "Him!"

The redhead pointed to himself with a hint of surprise. He had been a bit thrown by the young woman's attention, almost more so than he was her appearance. Carefully, he moved a bit closer to where she was sitting. Any attention from a woman was good attention, in his opinion. "Me?"

She nodded, still smiling. "Yeah."

Raven sighed and covered her face with her hands a moment before turning to the young men. "I am _so _sorry. She's…" The blonde stumbled for the right word a moment before settling on, "_sheltered_."

"I am not," Fern snapped, bristling slightly as Angel laughed. After a second, she tilted her head from side to side and admitted, "Okay, maybe a little, but I still know what black people are."

"_Fern!_" Raven growled through clenched teeth.

When the slender brunette merely blinked at her with confusion, Darwin chuckled. "It's cool. I don't think she means any harm." The young man arched a brow as he breezed over to the couch beside her. "Do you?"

Still unsure what everyone was so tense about, Fern merely blinked at him. "No?"

"See?" Armando smiled and took a seat next to Angel. "We're all good here. No harm no foul."

Raven sighed and took Hank by the hand. She led him over to the couch and Fern was quick to give up her seat in favor of sitting beside the blonde. She patted the grey girl's leg in a manner that reeked of condescension. "Don't mind her. She's still learning to play nice with the other kids."

Fern shoved her hand away as Sean fell into her old seat. Pulling her legs tightly to her chest, she pursed her lips. "I am not. Well, I am but…shut up, Raven."

"Alex!" Darwin called with a grin, his gaze shifting to the blond over the others' heads. "Will you get in here and stop lurking around the door?!"

Alex, who had been standing just inside the doorway since Fern had crowed so gleefully at them, found his voice. "Man, what the hell is wrong with your face?!"

Fern's eyes widened slightly, but didn't give the young man the satisfaction of a reaction. A few of the others did, with Angel letting out a shocked laugh and Raven turning to glare at her, but no one said anything. Darwin frowned at the blond and Sean and Hank shared a surprised glance, but _no one said anything_. So neither did she. Instead she looked to Sean. "What can you do?"

Raven gave her a light slap on the chest and the young brunette repressed a wince as the touch jarred a bit of her unseen tensor bandage. "It's not a mutation, he's just a redhead."

"Hey, I am more than _just _anything," Sean teased with a wide smile.

"Actually, she's technically correct." Hank leaned forward slightly so that Fern could see him. She wasn't paying him any attention, too busy trying to shift further away from Alex (who was now gaping at her from the seat only a foot or two away). The scientist went on regardless. "Being a redhead results from a mutated mc1r protein."

"See?" Fern elbowed Raven lightly in the arm as she stood. Walking around to the small table behind the couch, she hopped onto it with an easy grace. "Told ya so."

The blonde rolled her eyes at her.

"It's fairly rare, less than one percent of the population are redheads," the bespectacled man continued, pushing up his glasses as he spoke. "But it's really not much rarer than say, having blue eyes."

Sean beamed at them. Snapping his fingers dramatically, he crowed, "And I've got both!" He shifted in his seat, snickering along with the others. "I guess that makes me the alpha mutant."

"No, I'd say she's got that one covered," Alex replied with a jerk toward Fern.

The grey girl glared at him, but stayed silent.

"We haven't done introductions yet!" Raven hopped up from the couch. Her hands fell to the brunet's shoulders and she nodded, "Everyone, this is Hank, he's a genius."

The young man blushed, but merely lifted a hand.

"And this is Fern," Raven came around to the side of the table. "Fern, say hi."

The young woman just stared at her with blank blue orbs.

"Or don't, be antisocial, see if I care." She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder dramatically before planting her hand on her hip.

"I'm not being antisocial." Fern bounced slightly on her toes. "You're being patronizing and I'm ignoring you."

The blonde gave her a light shove in an attempt to throw her off balance, but Fern didn't so much as sway. Raven turned to the young man in the leather jacket and said, "This is Alex. Alex, you'll say hi, won't you?"

Alex just stared at her.

"I'll say hi," Sean replied, sitting up straighter. "I'm Sean and I'm just glad to be here and not where I was."

"A sentiment I'm sure Alex shares," Darwin teased, earning puzzled glances from the women that he waved off. "I'm Armando, but most people call me Darwin."

When his brown eyes fell on her, the petite brunette beside him rolled her eyes. "I'm Angel."

Raven beamed. "Awesome. This is so cool, I can't believe we're all here! Can I get anyone anything? We have Coke."

Darwin and Alex agreed and she grabbed a few from the fridge before she came back to the couch.

**A/N: Can't remember if I mentioned it before, but I put a pic up on my profile of the snake I modeled Fern's skin after. **


	8. The Kids Show Off

**A/N: Just to clarify, 'blonde' is Raven, 'blond' is Alex.**

"So where were you before?" Raven asked as she handed the men their drinks. A few glasses lined the table, and her own joined them as she spoke, "I mean, if you didn't want to be there."

"I was in school," The redhead replied.

"I was in prison."

The blonde's eyes widened a touch at Alex's casual response. She opened her mouth to respond although she wasn't entirely sure what to say, but Fern, surprisingly, saved her. The brunette glanced at the redhead and asked what he was studying. When Raven turned and offered her a dazzling smile (she was learning to socialize and the blonde was proud of her reclusive friend), the grey girl merely winked at her.

Both of them turned back to Sean as he answered with a shrug, "Art."

"What's so bad about art?" Angel asked with a quirked brow. "Seems like there are worse things to study."

"Hey, I'm all for art, but I am not all for living in a dorm room with two other guys with no sense of personal space or hygiene." Sean leaned back in his seat, raking his fingers through his shaggy hair as he sighed with distaste.

The girls' eyes all drifted over to Hank. Fern grinned at his discomfort as Angel smirked at him. It was the latter who teased, "You haven't showed them their quarters yet, have you?"

"We got sidetracked," The scientist admitted with a hint of pinkness to his cheeks.

Sean huffed and rubbed his face as he slumped in his seat. "Well, at least the company'll be good this time."

"Any chance of solitary in a place like this?" Alex asked before he took a sip of his soda.

"Afraid not," Hank told him with an absent frown.

"No!" Raven gave his knee a light slap. "No bad news! This is a happy occasion, okay? We're secret agents now!"

The others chuckled, but the girl pressed on, smoothing her long blonde hair as she did. "We should think of secret code names. We're secret agents now, we should have code names." Smiling widely, she announced, "I wanna be called _Mystique_."

"Damn," Sean teased. "I wanted to be called _Mystique!_"

"Well, too bad, I called it…" Raven shifted, her tan skin fluttering with scales for the briefest second before mellowing into freckled paleness. Where the blonde once sat, now sat the spitting image of Sean.

The reactions of the others varied, with Hank merely leaning away to give her more space, to Fern cackling and bouncing on her toes with delight. Angel gaped, Alex's jaw dropped and Darwin beamed. Sean, of course, had the most dramatic reaction as the young man tried to _physically leap away_ from his doppelganger.

Voice mirroring the young man's drowsy drawl, Raven blinked slowly, "And I am way more mysterious than you."

From behind her, Fern teased, "How long've you been thinkin' that one up, Rav?"

Still in Sean's form, Raven turned to look at her. "Shut up, Fern."

The grey girl shook her head playfully and reached over to tug a strand of Raven's red hair. After she let go, the bubbly woman's skin shifted once more, the blue scales catching the light for only the briefest of seconds before turning back to the tan tone Raven preferred. When the blonde caught sight of the grey girl's disappointed frown, she swallowed and looked over to the man across from her. None of the others seemed to notice the slight catch in Raven's voice as she asked, "Darwin, what about you?"

"Well, uh, Darwin's already a nickname and it sorta fits…" Armando bobbed his head back and forth casually. "Adapt to survive and all."

With a smirk, the man bounced off the couch. "Check this out."

The group watched with eager curiosity (with Fern going so far as to rise up on pointe to get a better look) as Darwin strutted toward the fish tank against the wall. Shooting them another quick smile, Armando stuck his head in it. Before the young man could take so much as a watery breath, large gills sprouted from his cheeks. They ran the length of his face, past his temple to his goatee and he grinned as he looked toward the others. His expression only brightened further as they cheered for him.

Fern was the first person to speak as he pulled his head out. As Armando shook the water from his head dramatically, she shook her own and let her heels fall just a touch. "I have never been more jealous in my entire life."

"That was incredible," Hank told him as he applauded with Raven and Sean.

Bowing, Armando thanked them before he fell back into his seat. Angel rolled her eyes and made a show of wiping some of the stray beads of water off her leather jacket as he spoke to Sean, "What can you do?"

"I'm going to be…" Like the man before him, the redhead seemed to have a flair for the dramatic and he leaned forward in his seat. Drawing his shoulders up a moment, he relaxed and nodded. "Banshee."

Fern glanced at the young man in front of her as Hank sat up a bit straighter. With merely a puzzled frown, she listened as the bespectacled man asked, "Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?"

The redhead smirked as he popped out of his seat hips first. "You might wanna cover your ears."

The mutants shared curious glances; Alex with Fern, Armando with Angel and- well, Hank tried to share one with Raven, but she didn't seem to notice. Sean bent his knees, making his face almost level with the table and the series of half empty coke bottles and glasses that littered it. They did as he said and covered their ears (with the exception of Darwin, who didn't need to). The redhead sucked in a breath, holding it a moment while he shot each of the girls playful glances before letting out a chirp. A chirp so high pitched it shattered the large picture window that was behind the table.

The redhead slowly stood as the group uncovered their ears. Armando clapped and Raven giggled and Hank looked horrified for a few seconds. Not wanting him to end up being a wet blanket, Fern nudged the back of his head and offered him a shrug when he looked at her.

"I'm sure they can replace it," She told the scientist. Bouncing on her toes, she made a point of looking around in the same manner she had seen Angel do early to demonstrate her point. "It doesn't exactly look like they're hurtin' for money around here."

Hank looked like he wanted to argue, but before he could Sean had already prompted Angel to show off.

The shorter girl shook her head jokingly as she pulled off her jacket. Sean whistled at her as her halter top came into view. She ignored him. "My, uh, _stage name_ was Angel." She turned her back to them, showing off her tattoos. Tattoos that pulled back from her skin to transform into pink, entomoid wings. With a teasing glance over her shoulder, Angel told them, "It kinda fits."

Fern beamed at her, her sharp canines catching the light as her skin rippled with delight.

In front of her, Raven leaned forward like an excited child as she shrieked, "You can fly?!"

"Uh-huh, and uh…" Angel turned and spit. A small fireball flew through the shattered window to land smack dab on the head of the statue outside. It sizzled as the group laughed. Sliding her jacket back on her shoulders, the petite brunette nodded to Hank. "What's your name?"

He looked visibly uncomfortable being the center of attention. He shifted in his seat, his gaze flickering from Angel to Raven. The pale man didn't get a chance to answer before Alex cut him off with a brash, "How about bigfoot?"

Hank crossed his legs and shied away from the blond's teasing.

Angel laughed as Raven scowled at him. On the defensive, she snapped at him, "Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet…"

Fern frowned. She had no idea what _they _said, but didn't ask. She had already gotten teased enough about being sheltered for one day.

"And yours are kinda small," the blonde finished, making a point to purse her lips with disappointment as she looked at the blond's sneakers.

Judging by the reactions from the group, Fern assumed Raven had said something rather catty, but once again chose to stay silent as Hank shot the girl beside him a grateful glance.

"Alex, what is your gift?" Darwin asked, extending a hand to him. "What can you do?"

Suddenly shy, Alex leaned forward to rub the back of his neck. Fiddling with his coke bottle, he told them, "I just can't do it…I can't do it in here."

Armando didn't let him off the hook so easily. "Can you do it out there?"

"Why don't you just do it out there?" Raven prompted.

"Come on," Angel added with an irritated scowl.

Beside her, Darwin began to clap and chant Alex's name, with Sean and Raven quickly joining in. Even Hank strained against a smile as the young man in leather reluctantly stood (to the joy of the group). Only Fern remained quiet as dread filled her stomach. After Alex shared, it would be her turn.

Frowning, the blond stalked toward the busted window. "Get down when I tell you."

Not to be deterred by his gruff tone, the others followed him to the window. They poked their heads out the window as Alex lined himself up with the statue.

"Get back," he warned them, but they merely slipped inside for a second before coming back out. "Get back!"

When the group ignored order, the blond shrugged.

"Whatever," He muttered to himself before he began to roll his shoulders and hips. Red light emanated from him, bright circles of pure energy that shot out from his torso. With a swivel of his hips, Alex shot two of them toward the statue. It sliced through the bronze like a hot knife through butter and the others let out shocked laughs as the head and torso fell to the wet grass.

As Hank stood gawking in horror at the destruction caused, Angel and Raven began to bounce with excitement. The other boys clapped and Fern made a vague effort to, although the sound was faint thanks to her gloves.

"Oh my god!" Raven crowed with delight as Alex came back to them. "We have to call you Havok!"

"You really don't," The blond told her with a hint of a frown. He made a point of going back to his seat and the others followed suit. His blue eyes flickered over to Fern. "Alright. Spill. What's with the skin?"

"Alex," Darwin scolded gently. Still, his brown eyes gleamed with curiosity as he, along with the rest of the mutants, glanced toward the grey girl.

The young woman rocked on her heels restlessly. "I can't show you-"

"Are you kidding me?" Alex snapped at her. "I torched a statue for these people!"

Fern's inhuman eyes narrowed on him. "I can't show you unless you want to wake up tomorrow morning in a coma."

"What do you mean?" Darwin asked. He leaned toward her a bit, along with Angel and Sean, as she unbuttoned her black overcoat.

Peeling it off, she tossed it into Raven's lap. The blonde shot her a saucy smile and held it to her chest, all but bursting with delight at the chance to see more of Fern's skin.

"I mean what I said," The girl replied stiffly. She rolled up the sleeve of her black long sleeve t-shirt and tilted her arm toward the ceiling lights to show them the various scales along the outside of her forearm. They were darker than the rest of her ashy grey skin, more of a charcoal color. She pointed out some of the blockier ones, the ones that rose slightly above the rest. "They're parotid glands-"

"You're poisonous?" Hank blinked with surprise and reached for her arm. "How long have you known?"

Fern smacked his hand away with a scowl.

He looked a bit hurt, then a bit irritated, but shrugged it off as curiosity got the better of him. Excitement palpable in his voice, he leaned a bit closer to get a better look at her exposed skin as he asked, "And are those triangular glands osteoderms?!"

"Yes," was the girl's stilted response.

"What the hell does that mean?" Alex snapped at them. He hated feeling stupid.

Hank rolled his eyes. Voice purposely slow and condescending, he explained, "It means she can regulate her body temperature."

"And they are _so _pretty when they catch the light," Raven gushed, much to Fern's embarrassment.

Her skin rippled (going from a concrete grey to an ink black for barely a second) as she glared at her, but Sean's voice cut her off before she could properly reprimand her friend. "Woah, how'd you do that?"

"Do what?" Fern asked with an arched brow. It was slightly hard to tell where her brows began and ended given her scales, but the young man caught the expression with ease.

The redhead faltered as his cheeks began to flush.

At his mildly panicked expression, she shook her head. "I'm just messing with you. It does it on its own."

"Oh." Sean relaxed. "Well, it's still cool."

"Glad I have your approval," Fern told him stoically as she pulled off her gloves. All but throwing them at him, she ordered, "Hold these."

Sean grinned and fanned himself with the leather gloves as she moved to take her shoes off.

Alex leaned forward with a hint of fascination, or maybe disgust, in his voice as he asked, "Oh, god, don't tell me you've got freak feet too?"

"I have amazing feet," Fern told him firmly. Channeling the confidence her mother had tried so hard to instill, she squared her shoulders and glared at him. "My feet can do amazing things _and_ look good in heels, so you can just shut your mouth, you hooligan."

While Raven let out a shocked laugh, Darwin clapped. "You tell 'em, Fern."

Alex shot his friend a frown, but said nothing as the grey girl walked over to the window on the opposite end of the room. It was thankfully still intact and would suit her needs just fine; the last thing she wanted to do was get footprints all over the wall. The glass could be easily cleaned, the walls- not so much. With a glance back at the others, she was a bit embarrassed to find them all staring at her with the same giddiness she had felt watching the others. Fern righted her baseball cap and planted her right foot on the glass. Her left foot soon joined its twin and with ease she walked up the wall, her body completely horizontal and without a hint of strain in any of her muscles.

"Ta da," the grey girl said sarcastically. "It's not exactly statue burning or flying, but I get by."

Angel hopped off the couch. Skipping over to Fern, she ducked under the girl's back. She went to give her a light push, but the young woman tilted away from her with ease, spinning to have her back pressed against the glass, the bottom of her feet still pressed against the glass and holding most of her weight. When the shorter brunette kept staring, searching out her poisonous scales and scutes with her eyes, Fern hopped away from the glass and went back to her seat. Tugging her sleeve back down, she snatched the gloves from Sean's hands before she took a seat beside Raven.

The blonde bumped their shoulders together and offered Fern back her coat.

"Can I touch them?" Angel asked as she reached out. "Your scales I mean?"

"That's probably not the best idea. They can get kind of iffy when I'm embarrassed."

"Aw, Fern, don't be embarrassed." Raven bumped her shoulder again. "We're all friends here."

"We're not friends," Fern told the blonde with a crooked grin. "I don't even like you, Darkholme."

Raven stuck her tongue out at her and offered her arm to Angel, who was pouting slightly from her place beside Alex's chair. Tan skin turning an ashy grey, Raven smirked as the same blocky scales pressed out of the outside of her forearms. "Here. You can touch me. I can't poison you."

"Now you're just showing off," Fern teased good naturedly as Angel ran her fingertips over Raven's mock of her skin.

The petite brunette smiled approvingly. "Awesome."

"What should we call you?" Darwin asked her, ignoring the slightly embarrassed quiver in the girl's features.

After a moment of thinking, Fern nodded as she remembered what Dr. Casten had told her once. "Cane."

"Cane?" Alex repeated with a tilt of his head. "As in coke or as in like, caning?"

"As in the toad."

The blond arched a brow. Reaching to take his Coke off the table, he asked, "Why not just call yourself _Toad_?"

"Toads aren't sexy," Raven told him with a hint of a pout. Her pout shifted to Fern. "You should have a sexy name. Everyone else has one."

"Hey, just because I didn't spend the flight over here thinking it up doesn't mean my name is bad," Fern told her with a hint of indignity.

"I like it," Sean cut in. As tempting as it was to let the two of them escalate into a cat fight, he was having fun and didn't want anyone to put a damper on the good mood. "What should we call Charles? Or Erik, _oh god_, let's give Erik one."

The girls chuckled as Darwin agreed, "The guy could certainly use some levity in his life."

When Raven looked away, Fern carefully bumped her shoulder with her own. They shared a smile and all was forgiven between the two.


	9. Barriers

Naturally, it didn't take the kids long to get a little wild. They were excited to be able to cut loose and show off their mutations. Couches were pushed aside, music was cranked and someone (most likely Sean) had managed to find a bottle of scotch hidden behind the bars. With their glasses filled, the group of mutants no longer felt any semblance of self-consciousness.

From the safety of the pinball machine, Fern watched as the other girls danced around, Angel's wings fluttering as Raven bounced around the couch. They had made some cursory attempts to get the young woman to join them, but Fern had waved them off.

When Darwin had called her over to try and break a chair off his shielded back, she politely declined. Ignoring their taunts of being a wet blanket, Fern merely stretched out on the glass cover of the pinball machine. Baseball cap covering most of her face, she clenched her jaw and tried to breathe through the pain in her chest. The tenser bandage was chaffing and too tight, making each inhale difficult. Thankfully, she was far enough away that no one could see the slight shake of her hands.

Vaguely, she wondered if she would be able to sneak away from the group without drawing any attention to herself. Just for a few minutes, so she could change and check herself over; she had never been bound for so long before. She was used to hour long intervals with the wrap, not six. Fern took a sip of her scotch and soda. A smirk drifted over her scaleless lips as Hank made an attempt to walk across the ceiling.

He waved her over and she mockingly twiddled her fingers back as he called, "Show me how you did it!"

"It's not gonna work for you," She warned him, slowly easing off her glass sanctuary.

Each movement rattled her bandaged chest, but she kept her features schooled in a mask of cool indifference. Adjusting her hat, she moved over to where Hank was hanging from the ceiling fan. She eyed his feet with interest, but didn't get too close; the scientist didn't seem to be holding his alcohol that well and while he was rather lanky, Fern was pretty sure it would still hurt if he fell and nailed her with one of his bony elbows.

Behind them, the jukebox switched from Rosemary Clooney's _Mambo Italiano_ to Freddy Cannon's _Way Down Yonder in New Orleans_. Hank seemed to notice the change in tempo and began to sway to it, much to the exasperation of the young woman below him.

The brunette shook her head. "You just don't got the feet for it."

Hank scowled, swaying dangerously as his long, fingerlike toes flexed around the ceiling fan. "If you can do it so can I!"

"That's not what I'm saying." Fern took another sip of her drink, wincing slightly as it went down. "You're just not made for-"

"Maybe he just needs a running start," Alex offered, spinning the chair he had been ready to hit Darwin with in his hands with a smirk.

"Right- Newton's first law!" Hank told them with a boyish grin. When one of his feet slipped, the woman backed off, even though he caught himself before he could fall. "Things in motion stay in motion!"

Fern shook her head and handed her glass off to Alex. "I can't watch this. I'm going to the bathroom."

"I'll join you." Darwin nodded toward the door. "I wouldn't mind stretching my legs anyhow."

Angel fluttered to the ground. Fixing her long black hair, she asked, "You want us to come with you?"

Fern arched a brow, looking between them curiously as Sean and Raven tried to convince Hank not to do something stupid, like say, try to run across the goddamn ceiling. With a hint of sarcasm, the grey girl asked, "You guys know I'm house trained right? I might be from the boondocks but I know how to use a toilet."

Darwin chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Fern stiffened, but he didn't seem to mind as he told her, "We know."

Angel rolled her eyes at the girl's tone, but merely went back to dancing as the two left the room. The last thing they heard before the door closed was Alex telling Hank to _stop being such a pussy_.

Darwin shook his head and let his hand fall from her shoulder. "That boy-"

A crash interrupted him, but neither turned back to investigate.

"Has some serious self-esteem issues," He finished.

"You mean Hank or Alex?"

"Well, both, I guess, but I was talking about Alex." Darwin offered her a wide smile. It faltered slightly as he noticed how she seemed to be holding herself; her posture was rigid and her features tense, her gloved hands clenched into fists at her sides. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Hm?" Fern glanced at him and shook her head. "No."

"You sure?"

She nodded firmly. "Absolutely."

The young man grinned at her. "Good. This your first time away from home?"

"Does it show?"

"A little bit…" He slipped a hand in his back pocket and winked at her. "But not much."

She tilted her head curiously. When the brim of her hat obscured her view of him, she spun it around backwards and asked, "Is it yours?"

Darwin offered her a slightly strained laugh. Rubbing the back of his neck, he told her, "Nah. I've been on my own for a while now."

"Because of your mutation?"

"Something like that." The young man swallowed, a hint of a frown on his full lips.

Knowing when to drop the subject, Fern asked him how long he had been driving a cab.

"Couple years now," He told her, a small smile tugging at his mouth.

They turned down the corridor that lead to the bathrooms. Two agents stood at the end of the hall, but the duo didn't pay them any mind.

"And you like it?" She fixed her hat.

"Sure. The pay's good, get to meet a lot of people…" He shrugged and elbowed her gently in the side. "Plus I get to choose the radio station."

"That certainly is a perk."

As they went to pass by the agents, one of them reached out to stop them. His hand hit Darwin's chest with just enough force to knock him back a step, but not enough to make his mutation activate. The man was tall and pale. Muscular under his black suit, his expression was grim as he stared down at them. "Where do you think you're going?"

Darwin glanced at the hand on his chest with a hint of irritation, but he masked it with a smile. "Little lady here's just lookin' for the bathroom."

"We don't have a bathroom for whatever _that_ is," The agent spat, jerking his head at Fern. "Colored washrooms are downstairs."

The young woman glared at him. "I'm not black." _Probably_, her mind added as an afterthought. "And you should take your hand off my friend."

"I don't care what you are," The agent told her with a sneer, but dropped his hand. "I'm not sharing a bathroom with a _freak _like you."

Darwin took Fern's hand. "Come on, we'll use the one downstairs."

"That'd probably be the best idea," the other agent told them. He was shorter and clearly the younger of the two, and his expression wasn't quite as hard. Still his words stung and Fern gently squeezed Darwin's hand before she turned away from them.

Unsurprised, but disappointed, the young women held her head high as she led her fellow mutant back down the hall. Swallowing, the young woman grit her teeth. Her sharp canines ground together and she let out a long sigh out her nose as she nudged Darwin in the side. When he glanced down at her, she warned him, "Now I'm uncomfortable."

Darwin offered her a tight smile and let go of her hand as they turned into the other hall. Wrapping his arm around her, he rubbed her shoulder. Vaguely aware that he could feel the thick skin of her glands, the young man ignored how his hand became as callous and heavy as stone. He supposed it was his body's way of protecting him against her mutation, but didn't say anything, less he embarrass her further. "Don't let them bother you. They're not worth it."

"I know." The young woman lifted an apathetic shoulder. "Doesn't make it any less annoying."

"Want me to kick their asses?"

Fern rolled her eyes, but a hint of a smile tugged at her lips. "That won't be necessary."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Let's just get back to the others, okay?"

Despite her casual tone, Darwin eyed her with concern. The words the agent had upset him, so he naturally assumed she too felt the sting of them "You alright?"

"Stop asking me that, you're starting to sound like Raven."

They walked in silence a few moments before he spoke again, "You shouldn't let that guy bother you."

The woman shrugged. "I'm over it."

"He's just some narrow minded jerk," Darwin told her as they slipped back into the room.

Fern waved him off, a bit of frustration slipping into her voice as she repeated, "I said I'm over it."

"Over what?" Raven asked.

The pair looked over to the blonde, unsurprised to find her holding an ice pack to Hank's head. The table they had pushed away was now little more than a heap of wood. Alex stood beside it, looking incredibly smug as he twirled one of it's broken legs between his fingers.

Fern stared at the wreckage a long moment before shaking her head. "Don't worry about it."

"Some suits wouldn't let her use the bathroom."

Fern rounded on him. Giving Darwin a shove, she snapped, "Traitor!"

Raven looked up from where she was playing nurse. Expression surprised and a bit hurt, she gaped at them. "What?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

The others frowned, but nobody said anything as she walked over to the couch. With a hint of a smirk, Fern pointed at Hank. "Told ya so."

"No more booze," Angel told her as she reached for her discarded drink. "It gives the guys too many stupid ideas."

"Hey, I tried to talk him out of it," Sean reminded her.

Fern arched a brow as the redhead moved to grab a bottle of coke from the fridge. "You clearly did a bang up job with that, Red."

Sean feigned indignity a moment before he followed her. Hopping up to sit on the countertop of the bar, he swung his feet in front of him as he peered over her shoulder. "Well, you're the one who put the idea in his head."

Fern bristled as Angel and Raven went back to dancing. "I did _not_."

"Did too." He smiled and accepted the bottle of Coke she offered him. "Thanks."

Fern pulled her glove off with her teeth. When the redhead reached over to take it from her mouth, she startled, but said nothing. Just eyed him with trepidation as she flipped off the cap and listened as he went on.

"Yup. It was all you and Alex," Sean told her, dropping her leather glove beside him as he went on, "And then you and Darwin left me and Raven to pick up the mess you made. Real nice, Cane."

The young woman rolled her eyes and jumped up to join him on the counter. The movement was graceful, but she landed hard when her breath caught in her throat. Chest burning, she ignored the ripple of her skin and forced herself to man up. Looking weak in front of the others wasn't on her agenda. This in mind, she made a show of leaning back to look around him at the busted remains of the table. "Looks like you did a bang up job, there, Banshee."

He shrugged, gangly shoulders rising and falling nonchalantly.

It struck Fern that the boy was incredibly skinny, scrawny even and it unsettled her slightly. Without a word, she flipped the lid off his Coke and the two shared a smirk as it clattered to the floor. Lifting the bottle to his lips, he elbowed her playfully in the side. "Now who's making a mess, Fe?"

The grey skinned girl shook her head and reached for her glove.

Sean held her drink as she moved to put it back on. He watched with a hint of a frown on his lips before asking why she wore them. "I mean," the young man added as an afterthought, "I get that you like to cover up," he gestured to her outfit with two fingers in a manner that was neither critical nor disapproving, something she appreciated as he went on, "but your hands? Seriously? I mean, they could kind pass for gloves on their own, couldn't they?"

Fern lifted her bare hand and twiddled her fingers. "It's just easier. My fingertips have these things called _setae_ on them. They're like little hairs that stick to things."

To prove her point, she placed the tip of her index finger on the side of his bottle and pulled it back. Sean grinned as it stuck to her skin, but he didn't let go.

"When I bend them one way, they stick," The young woman explained, ignoring the redhead's gaze. "When I bend them the other…"

The bottle broke away from her skin. Peering into the bottle with one eye, he asked, "So you keep the gloves on because it's easier than monitoring your skin all the time?"

Fern blinked with surprise. A smile blossomed over her features, flashing sharp teeth that he paid no mind to as he met her a gaze. She nodded. "Exactly."

Sean took a sip of his Coke as Alex approached them. He gave the young woman a wide berth. Noticing his discomfort, Fern tucked her legs up to give him more room and ignored the sharp pain when her knees grazed her breasts. The blond snagged a bottle of soda from the fridge and leaned back against the wall.

"So, what are you anyway?" He asked, eying the brunette's tight posture with distaste.

When the two just stared at him, Alex waved a hand in front of his face. "Like, racially."

"Oh." Fern shrugged flamboyantly. "No idea."

The blond looked like he wanted to comment on that, but Darwin beat him to it. "Will you three please get over here? It's gettin' a little boring being all over here by myself."

Rolling their eyes at him, the trio moved over to where Hank was nervously holding a chair. The lanky man held it in front of him, cringing slightly; whether it was from the pain in his head, the noise from the jukebox or the prospect of hitting Darwin in the back with a metal chair, Fern didn't know. Nor did she care. Regardless, she felt a smirk twitch at her lips as Alex reached out to take it from him.

"Stand back, McCoy," the blond warned him. "Let the real men show you how it's done."

Sean looked around in a manner similar to how Fern had earlier. "And when are these _real men_ arriving exactly?"

"Shut up, Sean." Alex glared at him before he swung the chair at Armando.

The group shared a laugh as the man's back grew into stone and the force of Alex's strike sent the blond tumbling to the floor.

**_a/n: I wouldn't mind some reviews on this one. Due to the nature of it, I'm curious as to readers reactions._**


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